The Profecy of the Elves
by Luca Pop
Summary: A little Crossover of LOTR Artemis Fowl and some other elfish fibble fabble. R&R plz and thank you. abandoned for now...if i get reviews again i'll start writing on it again.
1. Chapter 1: Separations

Chapter 1: Separations  
  
A murmur of voices filled the small cozy theatre. A tall figure with long blonde hair and his companion walked into the room. The figure had a green jacket with the letters M.C.P.A. on the back; he had a pair of blue jeans that looked a little different than your average day jeans. He looked like he was about twenty five, but his deep green eyes told the true story. His companion had a pair of black jeans that went well with her hair; she also warred a white blouse and had the same expression in her eyes. They finally found seats and they kissed; the woman looked into her husbands eyes and smiled. The room darkened, the murmur ceased and on the screen appeared the movie awaited by all.  
"Are you sure it's a good idea to leave the baby with your friend?" asked the tall figure.  
His wife chuckled. "Stop worrying. He'll b fine."  
The man looked reassured and smiled at his wife, pulling back his hair to reveal two pointy ears. The theatre was filled with people similar to this pair, with the pointy ears and the long hair. A few viewers were about half a meter (about 1.6 ft.) tall, they too had pointy ears with long thick beards. The tall character tapped his jeans made of special synthetic that could only be made at the earth's core and his sneaker like shoes, which were made of the same synthetic material, only thinner, and sea lion hide. Why, you ask?  
Well you might have already figured out that these are of course not human creatures. The tall proud looking ones are elves and the smaller ones are dwarves; you could find a gnome every now and again, but what you really didn't want to run into were orcs. These greedy, stupid, little creatures had been plaguing the earth causing all sorts of mayhem and destruction. These races of magical creatures lived peacefully underground, away from all the evil ways of humans. They all hated pollution and war; this did not mean they had rules. Someone had to keep the stupid little orcs in line; our blonde, tall character is one of these courageous elves. He was Captain Leon Black, of the Magical Creature Protection Association (M.C.P.A). Right now Captain Black was enjoying the movies with his wife Kayri. He was still uneasy about leaving his newborn, little bundle of joy with his wife's crazy friend. You could never really trust a sprite like Yuffie; sprites were another race of magical creatures. They had weak legs, but were the only race of magical creatures that could fly. They had long wings like those of a bat, only green, like their own skin color, and a little bit thicker. His mind was soon distracted by a vibration in his pocket; his wife herd it (elves have magnificent hearing and sight), and rolled her eyes.  
Her husband was one of the top M.C.P.A. Agents; he always got called for things like this when life was none the merrier. Her husband looked really disappointed and started walking toward the doors. She really loved Leon, but sometimes she wished he wasn't the top agent and that he had set all the records for just about anything: aim, speed, arrests, you name it. She had met him after he had graduated from the top magic training school underground. A normal M.C.P.A. agent, would spend about fifty years (elves are immortal so they didn't care) training. Thirty five years of studying and exams and fifteen of practical exams and virtual speed missions. Leon had taken another thirty years of training for stuff like, special operation training, weapons knowledge and things your average agent would find out when he got shot by an orc. Leon chose to train his magical abilities as well; elves have a great supply of magic, but few actually use it. Sure anyone could do a little levitation spell on the remote or chips, but few could manipulate it to read minds and control, weak minds and complicated things like that. This came in useful when a rogue gang of trolls managed to get to the surface, and started eating the local livestock.  
Captain Black pulled out a small baton from his pants' pocket and activated it by pressing a small button. This was an M.C.P.A. communications baton; it could transmit any kind of image, no matter what it was or where it was transmitted from. It was only used to contact agents on a break, the real communications devices were stashed away at M.C.P.A. headquarters. Leon pressed the button looking depressed; why, why, why, was it always he that got called? The image of General Drake Widow (Danny's character) appeared before the highly trained, special ops. Captain. The general looked stressed, he normally would look very calm and in control.  
"Black, get out of their now!"  
"What's the matter?"  
"There's a bom." a huge explosion erupted from the theatre. Leon was thrown three meters (about nine feet, sorry I'm European) into the air and landed on his back. The explosion knocked the wind out of him; something, probably a rock, had penetrated his skin and his hand was gushing blood. He quickly got up and reached for his gun, which was of course at home. He ran towards the theatre, only one thought on his mind. Getting to his wife. He started digging through the rubble; finally realizing that using magic would b more efficient. He held out his hands and swung them from side to side; tons of rocks and rubble were jumping at the elf's command. He found his wife struggling to keep alive and free herself. He freed her, to find that she was slowly dying; he put his hands on her chest and closed his eyes. White light surrounded the elven woman's body; she drew breath and opened her eyes. She was raised into the air, every small paper cut and scar was now healing; Kayri finally dropped and was caught by her husband.  
Suddenly the captain finally realized something. His baby; this was now accident, or terrorist attack. Ever since he had arrested an orc king pin, every lowlife in town was after him. He ran through the streets knocking any one aside that was dumb enough to get in his way. A stupid gnome merchant grabbed his arm and was instantly flattened against a wall thanks to a well placed uppercut from the captain. That idiotic sprite wouldn't last a second against the madman who did this. He finally reached their apartment building; the building was about seventy stories high. The Black family lived on the top floor were the penthouse was. Leon looked to the balcony to see Yuffie being shot down; she had been apparently separated from the baby and was rushing in on the attackers screaming "Give him back!" The front door flew open and three orcs came running out. Leon ran towards them, looking for the one with the baby. He knocked all of them out, but his baby was nowhere to be found; he was desperate he kicked one of them aside nothing, and the other and the other. Nothing! A blast set of behind the unsuspecting father, hitting him right in between the shoulder blades. This knocked him off his feet; twice in one night, not good. The projectile was slowly seizing control of his body, making it number and number by the second. He turned around on his back and looked at the shooter; an orc, holding something wrapped in cloth, the very same cloth Leon himself wrapped the baby in. He reached out grabbing the thin air; the orc gave a high pitched cackle and ran off. Everything went black and the captain was unconscious, he was so shocked, he couldn't capture the one criminal. Inconceivable!  
  
The stupid orc ran cackling with the poor innocent infant in it's disgusting arms. The boss would be so pleased; maybe even make him lieutenant. He reached the shuttle port area. Hundreds of elves, dwarves and gnomes were preparing to visit the outside world. This shuttle system was the latest in magic technology; it ran on nuclear energy so it didn't run out of fuel, and traveled at a speed of mach two. The walls of the tunnels were very robust being hit with all those sound waves all the time. The shuttle it self was behind a glass wall reinforced with magic; the M.C.P.A. had their own private shuttles that traveled three times the speed of the regular ones, but also a lot smaller and more uncomfortable.  
Now you will see how stupid these greedy, little creatures really are. The orc was now ducking low, so as not to be seen. This was not some skill acquired or pure experience; orcs always walked low through crowds. It's a habit acquired back in the day were the orcs were constantly shot down by arrows; so in about two hundred years they finally developed this reflex. The orc was fatigued, that little sprite was not such a bad fighter, he thought feeling his chin for bruises. The orc was behind a teenage like dwarf with a backpack slung over his shoulder. Perfect! He could just let the dwarf carry the baby, and he could get it when he regained his strength. He adjusted the baby carefully, so the dwarf didn't feel anything; another reflex they had developed by stealing, throughout the ages. A tall security guard stopped the orc, asking for a ticket. The orc shrugged and looked very confused indeed, why would he need a ticket he wasn't going anywhere. This particular orc was a bit on the smarter side, for his species so he remembered the baby after about ten minutes and tried to run for the dwarf. The shuttle was already departing, the loud noise cracked the walls and in a second it was off. Lucky for the orc he was arrested for trying to run away from the security guards, otherwise he would have been killed by the boss and his kinsmen.  
  
The baby was still asleep in the dwarf's backpack, and the dwarf didn't notice either. In about an hour the passengers were off the shuttle and were getting ready to visit Disney Land Paris. Before they emerged into the human world, the magical creatures passed through numerous booths were their ears would be shrunk and things that stood out would be cloaked. The dwarf's baggage was now being checked, when an alarm went off signaling all creatures that human activity was detected in the area. Immediately a sense of panic ran throughout the crowd, and everyone rushed through. The dwarf finally discovered the baby while he was unpacking, and gave it to a human orphanage, thinking it was from the area. Dwarves' weren't all that bright either.  
  
Back underground Leon finally regained consciousness in a hospital bed in Vianox (named after the other city in my old story). His wife was by his side, sleeping at the moment and he could see that she had cried herself to sleep. He sighed, and looked at his lap hoping that he had just awoken from some big shootout and that his baby was still at home with Yuffie. General Drake and Commander Orias Pyro, they too had the jacket Leon was wearing earlier. They smiled and walked over to him, they looked tired and sad.  
"What happened?" asked Leon, hopping for something good.  
"Your child had been kidnapped by the orcs." Replied Widow diplomatically.  
"Don't worry Leon we'll find him." assured Orias. Leon didn't look, relived at all; he got up and walked over to a closet to look for his clothes. He found them and put them on, looking for a weapon. "Sorry, no weapons allowed. Look, don't worry Captain Wei Pion Yeng (Bruce's Chinese name) is still out there. Sayeed Rasool (sounds cool to begin with) is monitoring every cockroach in the city." Cockroaches were everywhere these days, topside or underground. They usually crawled into someone's luggage and got carried underground where they spread like they did on top of the Earth.  
The search continued for the next fourteen years, Leon Black and his friends searched every cook and nanny of every house in Vianox. Leon and Wei rose through the ranks to become commanders and Leon set another record for most orcs apprehended. Of course young Black was nowhere to be found. He was adopted by a rich human family and was now fourteen and living with his human family somewhere in London. It seems his magic would be lost forever if he was not found soon. 


	2. Chapter 2: Great Reunions

Chapter 2: Great reunions  
  
Commander Leon Black was in his nice office mending some paper work, which were mostly just some vacations slips. He sighed raising his eyes from the boring paper work. He got up slowly and looked out the window, where busy magical creatures were scurrying about and futuristic cars were zooming by. It had been almost three weeks since they had seen some field action. Sayeed, the technical genius was busy scanning for any illegal actions. He missed the good all days where he would have to hack into the most complicated computer systems and devise cunning plans for his friends to follow. He turned back to his work; a huge machine gun with ten revolving barrels was laid in front him. He inserted a minute, translucent chip into the gun and raised it carefully examining it closely. Perfect! Now for the finishing touch; he held the giant weapon on his fingertips that were glowing a feverish red. The huge machine gun now had a red aurora around it, the spell disappeared and the gun was now light as a feather. Leon walked into the room, looking bored.  
"What do you think?" the exited genius asked, holding up his precious new invention.  
The commander examined it closely and held it up aiming at water pitcher. "The handle is a little rigid and it looks very primitive."  
The misunderstood elf sat up and took his invention. "You should turn it on before you criticize it."  
The machine now had small, white dots at the tip of the barrels that traced white lines back to the handle that made it glow dimly. The commander smiled and took the now active futuristic weapon; it vibrated slightly loading his statistic information. "I inserted a memory chip that scans your DNA so only you can use it. The potential thief will have about one thousand watts driven through his body as soon as he touches it. It also reacts to the sensors in your helmet so if you hold the trigger down it will fire and trace the hostiles."  
"So what does it fire, exactly?"  
"Well, it has three settings: warn, tranquilize and kill. These are changed according to the target. The projectiles themselves are plasma balls that change their speed according to the setting. The warn is actually just a flare that goes out with a boom, so you can use it if your lost and communication is down. Anything else?"  
"Does it have a manual button?"  
The elf chuckled; nothing satisfied his friend like open range shooting. "Yup! Special just for you. Oh and if u push the small grey button it becomes a compact size baton." He said pushing a grey button next to the shooter's thumb, transforming the weapon into a small grey baton. Just then a beeping sound filled the sensitive ears of the elves. A small picture of a black human car appeared on the plasma screen in the Operations Chamber. "FBI. must be an alien sighting." the elf started typing on his keyboard; the characters in scripted on the buttons were in elvish (like the ones in LOTR). "Ah! GPA tracking system, perfect." the genius started typing again and the car on the screen stopped moving. "That- " but the commander was already gone.  
In fifteen minutes a full squad of elves was assemble in front of General Drake's office. Wei, Leon and Orias were dressed in white jumpsuits that glowed slightly; this was a mythril coated jumpsuit of nano machines that protected the M.C.P.A. units from elements of the upper world. The nano machines also fixed the suit, if the unit was shot for instance. In the commanders' hands was a full head helmet, also white and also crawling with nano machinery. It included 100 watt lights, a minute camera, so whatever the unit saw was transmitted back to base. It had oxygen tanks that could last for one hour; a dictionary of every language know to man and elf, it could give thermal readings, x-ray images, and could zoom in and out on demand (this was on the visor) plus many more functions. It outlined the mouth, but a ventilated mask could be activated for the face as well, and a small microphone was inserted where the pointy ears would be.  
"Alright men" said the general. "You all know your mission: memory wipe the humans and direct the aliens to the nearest port. Lieutenant Wilbert will be accompanying you." A short skinny elf walked into the room, looking very anxious. As well he should've been, not many M.C.P.A. agents got to work with these three legends. He had two buck teeth and large, square, black glasses. The commanders snickered under their breath and clenched their fists trying not to burst with laughter; this was probably the worst one they had seen yet. Seriously. Wilbert? What kind of mama's boy name was that? This would be so much fun.  
The elves were fully suited and were now boarding a shuttle, being waved at by the onlookers. The nerdy Lieutenant waved back, allowing his partners a good laugh. The shuttle was ready for liftoff.  
"Before we go, I want to say it is such a privilege to be working with you." Announced the rookie. "So let's lock an-" the speech was cut short as the skinny elf was slammed back into his chair. Leon was pushing against the acceleration pedal as hard as he could, curling his lips so as not to give away the great satisfaction he had gotten for terrifying the rookie. He really hated those stupid army lines like "Lock and Load" or nonsense like that, just wasted time in his opinion.  
Most commanders were not used to this kind of speed, but Commander Black and his crew were way beyond the level of commander. The mach two speed would of shook the shuttle like it was the end of the world if it weren't for the elf magic applied to it. They were already at two times the speed of sound and it didn't look like the lieutenant could take much more of it. The professionals were having the time of their life. Leon was holding the control sticks tight in his hands; these tunnels were full of twists and curves but he had learned all of them. He was watching the path carefully twitching the sticks every time they hit a curve. He was loving every minute of it; the pedals underneath his feet the great speed and the feeling that he controlled this gigantic machine, not to mention the life of his entire crew. They finally reached the docking bay, to the relief of the lieutenant who was now as green as a two thousand year old sprite.  
Here they were met by another elf named Norbert, but they just called him Norb. He was waiting for them next to a chrome arrow like shuttle with small windows. This was used for earth missions; it was cloaked by elf magic to human eyes and quiet as the summer breeze.  
"'Sup, Norb?" asked Wei walking past the elf and selecting a golden rifle from a rack.  
"Not much." The elf admitted looking depressed. Orias was now holding two silver handguns. He fired one at the wall; a silver orb hit the wall emitting sparks. Wei did the same and fired a silver arrow head that also emitted sparks. It was too bad they never got to use the kill setting, just to see how it was.  
"I'll drive this time" said Orias. "I'm the better Land Arrow driver."  
"Fine with me." Said Leon raising his shoulders. This was the truth after all.  
Once they had reached the field where the aliens were sighted, Sayeed appeared on their screens.  
"Alright, the alien ship should be about two hundred meters from your location. Uh."  
"What's wrong?" said Black activating his new acquired weapon.  
"Wow!" exclaimed Orias. "Get a load at those weapons." They all switched to x-ray vision and saw through the corn field and into the alien ship were hundreds of crates were being unloaded. Two FBI agents lay dead on the floor some where near by.  
General Drake appeared on their screens. "Change in plan. Rasool get me the senator of these guys online; Yeng get on top of that mansion near by and pick them out. The rest of you try and maintain peace around the perimeter." Wei Pion Yeng was on top of the mansion and tacking aim at the hostile aliens. He was by far the best marksman; he once shot a bomb power generator the size of a mosquito from five hundred meters away. Leon was rather disappointed, he wanted to try out his new weapon; he sighed and looked around. He switched to thermal and looked around for bombs; nothing. Just the something caught his sensitive eyes; the stupid lieutenant was walking towards the hostile ship with his arms raised.  
As soon as the aliens saw him they shot his in the head knocking him out; Wei immediately shot one of them and the other managed to get behind a crate. Orias was running to his fallen partner shooting at the crate, creating huge dents in it. Leon raised his gun and shot about a thousand rounds in two seconds; the projectiles curved around the crate and hit the hostile full force. The agonizing pain created by the bullets made the criminal scream a high pitched scream that could crack your eardrums. Leon ran to his two partners switching to the vitals option on his helmet. A substance was spreading through Wilbert's body killing everything in it's path. He put his hands on the fallen elf and concentrated only on healing. The poison was wiped out but it did cause the lieutenant to throw up and scream in pain. You had to feel sorry for him; he was twitching in pain his eyes wide open, his sweat glands streaming with his stress and pain. Poor guy he just wanted to be peaceful, but that maneuver could as well knock him off the squad.  
"Heads up guys" announced Sayeed. "You got a helicopter heading your way."  
"Shields on, everyone!" ordered Leon. He grabbed something from his belt and threw it on the alien ship and the two aliens, which immediately made them invisible to human eyes. They had to wait for the aliens' police force to pick them up. The helicopter zoomed over head heading for the mansion and soon landing on a helipad. "Sayeed I want identification on those humans: guns, background, whatever you can find."  
"Aye-aye!" responded the elf. "OK there's a really big one, probably a body guard, with two normal handguns, a knife in his left shoe. Weight is about. oh big one. He's about one hundred ten kilos, looks all muscle too, and he's about two meters tall."  
"Anything else you could find?"  
"They're two smaller humans, weigh about fifty kilos, the male is one meter seventy-five and the female one meter sixty-eight, about fourteen years of age and the male has a handgun in a shoulder holster. What is this world coming to? Kids with guns, stupid humans are their own worst enemy. Wait I'm getting another reading on the smaller ones and it's.What? This thing must be faulty it can't be right."  
"Ok that's all we need, thanks. Wei, pick them off if they see anything."  
"Gotcha'!"  
  
The young elf was in a limo being driven by his huge bodyguard to school. The boy looked rather depressed. He felt something in him dying, something important, something in the back of his mind that he had to let go. His human parents said it was only a part of growing up, but of course they had no idea. The boy frowned; maybe today he would find out what this thing was, maybe he could save it. His bodyguard was probably the only one who knew how he felt right now. He tried to do everything in his power to cheer his employer up but nothing worked. He had suggested a psychiatrist but his parents would hear nothing of it, using puberty as their pathetic defense.  
As you might have guessed, this young gentleman was the long lost son of Commander Leon Black, which he knew nothing about. The thing dying in him was of course his magic, the powerful magic of his mother and father, which pulsed through his veins. He had no idea who he was or even what he was. What he thought he was, is the precious adopted son of one of the richest and distinguished families in England. He drummed his thumb against an armrest looking at the gates of his boarding school. Time for another boring year at the stupid boarding school with all those stupid snobs. He was rich too but he wanted to be as normal as possible, wearing jeans and thinking about girls and video games and stuff like that; these kids wore suits and carried briefcases around and talked about business and the stock market and other such nonsense. The car stopped in front of the large wooden doors of the boarding school; the car door opened and he stepped out sighing. The young elf saw his doom before him and scowled, turning to his only friend and bodyguard.  
"Do I really have to go?" he asked.  
The giant body guard smiled gently; he wished his master didn't have to go as well. He liked showing him how to shoot or teaching him various martial arts over the summer and going to exotic resorts and cruises. "I'm afraid so sir. It'll be over soon enough." He said not knowing that it will end very soon.  
The young man sighed and grabbed his bags, hoping for a silver lining. In an hour he was sitting in his room staring at the ceiling, feeling very weak all of a sudden. He needed some fresh air, he decided, getting up from his hand carved bed. He walked around the old Victorian stile building about five times until he reached a group of snobs crowding around something. One of them moved a little and a girl could be seen being held down by a rather large thug. For one of the first times in his life the young gentleman was overwhelmed by anger something in him came to life all of a sudden. And even though he had no idea what it was he knew that it was the thing that was killing him earlier. Then he turned to the group of unfortunate children and thought of only two words: speed and strength. He rushed up to the thugs and punched the large one in the stomach, projecting him about three meters in the air. The rest scattered in various directions; this was it, the young elf thought, this power. He then realized what he had done and ran to the boy he had punched, who was now scowling in pain. The head mistress came into the yard walking as fast as her skinny legs could take her. She gasped when she saw the large boy on the ground, looking she had aged ten years.  
"How dare you?" she barked. "What did you do to him you delinquent?"  
"They were hurting the young lady over there Madame." The boy replied with an unusual degree of calmness. He then started walking to the injured girl who was looking at him kindly. A few scratches darkened her beautiful appearance; her hero bent low to her and smiled. "Are you alright?"  
"Yes thank you." She replied kindly. This boy was so unlike everyone else she knew at the school.  
"Young man I shall be calling your parents tonight." Interrupted the skinny old headmistress. She was trying to raise the large boy but failed and called some other staff member to do it.  
"Please do Madame." Replied the boy coldly. He turned to the girl and grabbed her hand gently; if only I could heal those bruises, he thought. Miraculously the bruises disappeared, making the boy gasp. This was all too strange, what was happening to him? He was brought back to reality when the girl kissed him gently.  
"Thanks again." She whispered. "I'm Kira, and who are you?"  
"I'm Robert, but my friends call me Roby, or Rob." He replied calmly helping her up. "So what were you doing out here Roby?" "Well I was gonna' take a walk, would you like to accompany me?"  
"Sure" she answered softly. "It'll be my pleasure." The two teens started walking slowly, hand in hand, through a garden of roses. It was now starting to get darker and the roses were soon crawling with fireflies, making the seen very romantic. The girl bowed her head and looked depressed.  
"What's wrong?" he asked kindly.  
"Well, you might think I'm crazy but." she paused biting her lip, she made up her mind and continued: "there's something at the back of my mind-"  
"Trying to get out?" the boy suggested.  
She looked at him surprised. "How did you know that?"  
"Because I had the same feeling. It just got out this afternoon when I was trying to save you."  
  
"You have to help me let mine out. How did you do it?" she said her calm voice growing more exited.  
"Well it probably has to be a very powerful emotion, like anger or love, to let it out. But mine didn't work. I think it just slowed down."  
"You have to meet my parents; maybe they can help us they're psychiatrists."  
"Alright, let me get our ride." The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone dialing his body guard's number. "Hey, you still have that helicopter near by? (Pause) Ok good; bring it over pick us up in the rose garden."  
In five minutes a helicopter came hovering over head the tall body guard was steering it gently a few streams of sweat on his face. Both of them were used to these dramatic exits; last year Robert was on vacation in Austria and remembered that he had school the next day. He had to buy a jet and parachute down to get to school on time. Robert looked to his girl friend smiling; would she come, he thought. She was so surprised; how many fourteen year olds run away from school in a helicopter. But she decided to suck up her courage and take the risk, taking his hand. In an hour or so they were flying over the country side, admiring the beautiful sights; the two youths were suddenly depressed, feeling that there was something missing from the scenario. This had been the country of their people, filled with wonder and magic. The humans now controlled the land and had forced the elves to leave it, taking the elves' peaceful ways to push them out. They knew nothing of this long, hard history of course.  
Robert was thinking of what his parents would say once they found out he had beaten up someone, and ran away to a stranger's house in a helicopter. He then looked at Kira sleeping on his shoulder; how peaceful and beautiful she was. He then thought of the power inside him weakening him and torturing his mind. It was worth it, he knew it, it had to be. They flew over Westchester passing it quickly, at about thirty kilometers away from the city a mansion aroused. He was very anxious to land and begin conversing with Kira's parents about their condition. He looked at the field, looking at the vast rows of corn; all thoughts of agriculture were drained from his head once he saw what was in the corn. Two futuristic spaceships and many men with strange weapons running about. Was he going crazy, were these dark thoughts all just insanity. Kira started moving on his shoulder, when she looked in the direction of the strange scene, her jaw dropped. They were now landing; two figures were awaiting them, probably Kira's parents. They seemed to be very calm about the man with a rifle above them. Was this a set up, why didn't anyone else see this?  
  
Sayeed Rasool was standing in the Ops Chamber, starring at the screen dumbstruck. How could this be? These humans had magic in them, and then the thought of Leon's son struck him.  
"Leon that's your son." The words left his lips without him realizing it.  
"This is no time for idiocy, remind me to punch you when I get back."  
"No I'm serious, look." The elf transmitted the visual on his screen on to everyone's helmet.  
The commander stood shocked, his knees shivering below him. He fell to his knees, on the piles of broken corn stocks, not believing what he was seeing. Both humans had a small amount of magic in them. The commander came back to his senses and concentrated very hard; the thoughts of a young elves appeared in his head. The young mind was analyzing what he had just seen. Images of him and his partners came into the commander's head; he could no longer control himself. He ran towards the helipad as fast as he could, he threw a golden orb at two humans waiting on the helipad, knocking them unconscious. His son was out of the helicopter and aiming a human handgun at him; couldn't blame him. The huge human walked out of the looking at the boy as if he was crazy. What was his employer doing pointing his handgun at thin air, he was beginning to think his employer's problem was insanity after all. Just then a voice broke the silence from nowhere.  
"Hold your positions." The commander transmitted to his friends. "You can see me, can't you?" he asked his potential son.  
"Clear as crystal." the boy replied coldly.  
"Get back behind me, sir." Said the giant human, walking towards his employer. He was hit by a blue orb and his senses were knocked out of him, he had no control over his body. A calm voice broke the awkward silence taking, if possible, even more control of the manservant's body.  
"OK, ape man, step away slowly." Leon's voice sounded like sweet music into the bodyguard's ears.  
"NO! Donovan!" screamed the boy, firing the bullet at this strange hostile. The bullet hit the commander full force in the chest, ricocheting of his suit.  
Leon thought for a short moment, a stream of sweat running down his brow. He couldn't get exited; he saw his son's magic depleting. Then it hit him; he concentrated hard, tapping into the boy's memories. There it was! The image of him and his wife cuddling around him. The boy's knees started shacking; he realized what was happening and who that was standing before him. He fell to his knees sinking his exasperated face into his sweaty palms. This was his real father, this strange creature with inhuman powers, this was why he was adopted and why he felt the way he did. He looked up to see his father walking towards him, making him feel so strange maybe a little frightened. The commander had dropped everything and was walking towards his son, seeing for the first times in so many years. Donovan came rushing towards the elf and punched him in the stomach, sending him five meters across the helipad.  
"No, Donovan he's my father." The boy's words penetrated the manservant's angry mind, shocking it beyond belief. It must have been that strange power, the same one that took over his body was now taking over the boy's body.  
"He's right, Donovan. He's my son, who was taken away from me and my wife fourteen years ago." The elven figure started walking towards the manservant slowly, turning off the invisibility cloaked created by his magic jumpsuit. Before the jumpsuits M.C.P.A. units would have to use their own magic to turn invisible, which took out a lot out of most of them. "Take it in real slow I know it doesn't make sense, but it will." A few space ships came out of the blue with an emblem in-scripted in them. "Orias take care of that, please." He turned to his son and said: "Quick there isn't much time; we have to get back underground."  
The boy nodded, and remembered something that froze him in his tracks. "What about my friends. Can they come?"  
"Sure, let's go!" They walked to the Land Arrow, getting in as fast as possible. "Sorry guys, I'll send back a ship for you."  
The ship took of with amazing speed, Donovan was astonished by it. They reached Norb and quickly got on the shuttle that would take them to salvation, leaving a surprised elf behind. Leon Black would have grown a head full of grey hair that day had he not been an elf. They were zooming through the tunnels, at three times the speed of sound, making everything seem like a huge blur of color. With amazing maneuverability the commander docked the ship in ten seconds and signaled everyone to follow him.  
Sayeed's voice sounded in Leon's helmet, breaking the tense silence. "Leon we've got a prophecy."  
"Not now! This is important."  
"It involves your son." These last words stopped the stressed elf in his tracks.  
"What?!"  
"Heads up!" the words were soon followed by blinding light that broke throughout the whole city. Definite prophecy, thought the commander. This was powerful magic, and if it involved his son, he was pretty sure he didn't want to know what it said. He turned towards the two young elves, with the vitals option still selected. They were regaining all their magic, to it's full extent. At least it had saved the young elves; they could not live without their magic. Now for the bad news.  
Prophecies were powerful spells that involved two sides. It was usually along the lines of: only such and such can banish a certain person and vice versa. They could not be broken unless the prophecy was fulfilled. They were banned by the council about eight hundred years ago, because they were too powerful and dangerous. Not anyone could do them either; it took a great amount of magic and many had died trying to perform the complicated spell.  
"What does it say, Sayeed?" Leon asked, hoping.  
"You better get down here this isn't pretty."  
"I can't I have to take my son home. Please just this once." He had pleaded, there's something you didn't hear everyday. But today was different, today he just wanted to celebrate finding his son.  
"Yeah, go on." This was the general.  
"Thank you, sir."  
  
At the Black house hold, Kayri was holding her son in her arms crying her head off. She had never felt so happy in her entire life, she let go, sobbing and looking him over. Leon and Donovan looked on from nearby, feeling very strange. What would happen to Donovan now that his employer had found his family? Maybe he could stay as well, he liked the elves anyway. He sighed with grief; Robert was his only friend, he didn't want to leave him. The manservant had to ask:  
"So. what are you gonna' do with me?"  
The commander looked at him thinking for moment. He knew this human was kind of heart and a good friend of Robert's. Ah of course, his face lighted up with delight. "You can probably live with us, you'd have to take a drink from the Fountain of Youth from time to time, but you could stay here."  
"Thank you." Donovan said, gracefully. He was trying to think over the fact that he would have to drink from something he had heard of in fairytales.  
"So what's up with the prophecy, dad?" asked the young elf.  
Leon had to wait a moment to analyze the fact that he had been called dad for the first time in his life. He smiled and said: "Don't worry about that, we'll catch the guy. You on the other hand need to get acquainted with your new world and your powers. Kayri can teach you the basics."  
Kira walked in wearing a blue bathrobe that was a little big for her, looking exhausted. "So who are my parents?" she asked.  
"Well you'll come with me tomorrow and Sayeed will help you find them."  
The elven girl smiled and thanked him. It was gonna take a while for the two young elves to "get acquainted" with their new world and powers. Leon was troubled by this prophecy; he remembered Sayeed's words about how it involved his son. He sighed and stared at the ground, thinking hard for a long while. He had nothing to worry about, the lunatic was probably dead anyway. Hopefully. It will all be sorted out tomorrow, he thought. He got up and started walking to bed, to join his wife; everyone else was asleep already. All he could now was to sleep on the problem he was tired anyway. 


	3. Chapter 3: Fitting in

Chapter 3: Fitting In  
  
The young elf woke up with a radiant, artificial light shinning on his brow. He looked out the window; even though this entire civilization lived underground it seemed like the sun was shinning on the entire metropolis. Futuristic transportation devices zoomed here and there taking the city dwellers to wherever they were going. The elven boy grinned he felt warm on the inside, like he was finally home. It looked as he was the first one awake. He looked at a clock with strange symbols on it; at first he didn't understand them, then looking more closely it happened. He was overwhelmed by a beam of light; his eyes turned white and his mind was blurring with pictures and information. Everything disappeared and he was still gazing at the clock. Six a.m.!  
"Wow!" the elf whispered to himself. He heard someone walking behind him and turned around to find his father.  
"Did you enjoy yourself?"  
The boy didn't know what he meant, but then Leon looked at the clock. "Oh, that? What was that?"  
"Information clock. You're still pretty human, if you had all your powers in order you would've just seen some pictures and some dates."  
"So how do I get my powers in order?"  
"Your mother will take you to the Oak tree and then you and Kira will have to touch the tree and whisper a couple of words."  
"What about you?"  
"I have to check out this prophecy." The father said looking down at the floor. Who was he kidding? Of course the maniac was still alive; if not, how did his son receive all his magic back? "I better be going, have fun at the tree!"  
"Thanks!" the conversation didn't really seem father to son, more like family friend to family friend's child. They would both have to get used to it, the young elf thought scratching the back of his neck. He walked around the house exploring it; he found a huge library full of thick books, all with the same type of strange symbols. This made him feel very strange; he knew over ten languages and had never felt very confused before. He went down a flight of stairs and found a swimming pool and a Jacuzzi; his parents were loaded, he thought nodding his head. The pool was big too; fifteen meters long and about ten meter wide. The cost of the pool and Jacuzzi made him think of currency and the one the elves would have. When he went back upstairs, on a marble staircase, to the high-tech, futuristic kitchen he found that everyone was awake. "Good morning!"  
They all responded with a muffled "'Ello", which made Kira choke. Donovan hit her across the back of her head and she spat something out, which was only half way chewed.  
"Thank you!" she said in a rather sarcastic way. Donovan just nodded and turned back to his breakfast.  
"Do you want some toast?" his mom asked him. Not a very motherly way to say it, but all well. She would have to get with the program as well, or people would think his parents had died and these people were taking care of him.  
"Sure, thanks!" he replied either way.  
After eating a piece of toast, which was quite filling, they made their way to the Oak tree in a silver chrome car, with circular blue discs that suspended it in mid air. On the inside the car had two rows of seats coated with leather and filled with an unknown material that made them very comfortable. The wheel was circular, with an oval inside; on the oval there were numerous buttons that controlled air conditioning, head lights, holo- phone, and various other commands. The speed was controlled by pedals; this was transmitted on a screen behind the wheel, along with the speeds (reverse, drive; sorry I'm Romanian), temperature, fuel (it ran on nitrogen gas) and a G.P.S. system farther to the right. There numerous other commands that could be performed, that were controlled by buttons in between the driver and the passenger. It was very fast just like the other cars and very smooth. They parked near the Oak tree, the discs were slowly covered by rubber and the machine touched down smoothly. As they got out, many heads turned toward them; they were still wearing their human clothing. Kira realized this and said:  
"Um. I think we need a new wardrobe."  
"Oh, of course, sorry." Kayri apologized. "Let's get some clothes before we go to the tree."  
They went to a clothe shop, close by, with a blonde elf behind the counter.  
"Are!" the elf said. Everyone but Kayri was surprised; then Roby realized, it was Latin.  
"Are." He responded.  
They got some strange clothing, which consisted of a smooth, grey, cotton, long sleeve shirt, for Roby and a pair of long white pants that were of a strange material, which was very comfortable. Kira bought a silk, blue dress and a white cotton top. Donovan picked out a random pare of grey, pants and a black, cotton (I can't think of anything else) robe, which made him look a little bit like a samurai.  
Now it was time for the tree. They got close and touched it feebly; a priest told them to repeat the following in Latin.  
Ego voluntas faveo foedus consisto mei natio.  
Ego voluntas faveo foedus consisto natura.  
Ego voluntas defendo omnis creatura consisto natura.  
Ego punio natio quis rumpo foedus,  
Quod ceteri voluntas praesto idem.  
  
I will support the laws of my people.  
I will support the laws of nature.  
I will protect every creature of nature.  
I will punish people, who violate these laws,  
Because the rest will do the same.  
As soon as they spoke several things happened: two jewels fell down from the tree and were hung magically around the elves' neck by a golden necklace, Roby's blonde hair grew down to his waist and his ears were pointy; his senses grew one hundred times more acute, he had a sudden knowledge of nature and his people's ways and his strength increased as well (physical and mental). Kira experienced the same sensation: her dark hair shinned, her ears grew pointy, etc.  
The priest congratulated them and they went to a restaurant where Kayri and Leon often went, to celebrate. They ate a lot of specially prepared elven food that filled you up on the first bite.  
That night, Roby was lying in bed gazing at the ceiling; Kira was resting on his shoulder fast asleep. He was thinking about the ceremony and how that one giant oak tree could hold so much power. He would have to read a little bit more about it; maybe they would learn about it in school. But did elves have school? He hadn't seen his father since morning and was wondering if he was alright; but his mom didn't seem to worry. With this thought calming him down he fell asleep quietly. He started dreaming something not quite clear to him; he was running in what he thought was the elven city, but it was all in ruin and burning brightly. He sweaty and scared of something lurking behind him in shadow. When he looked back he saw his father and two other elves shooting blue orbs of light at thousands of black creatures with menacing white eyes; his fear increased and he was getting tired. He concentrated on running as fast as he could, he ran and ran even after he heard his father howl in pain. A million thoughts ran through his head and he couldn't even understand all of them. He looked back again to see a sea of black creatures chasing towards him. Hot tears of anger and sorrow ran down his cheeks, he turned around on his heel and held his arms out and yelled Oblivio at the top of his lungs; a cloud of dark energy erupted from his bare hands racing towards the swarm of creatures devouring them and obliterating them. Roby returned to running his pain and anger growing; at least he was safe. Then the earth began to rumble, but he kept on running until the earth crackled and split beneath his feet, revealing a great fire and.  
"Aah!" he screamed, Kira was still resting on his shoulder and was flung forward. He was breathing hard, sweat trickling down his temple. Kira touched him slowly and he gasped jumping out of bed.  
"What's wrong?" she asked, looking as worried as he was.  
He raised a hand to his eyes and leaned against a wall with the other. He was socked in sweat and his hands were shacking. "Sorry. just a nightmare."  
She gazed at him looking confused and worried. "Are you sure?"  
"Yeah, yeah." he said breathing more easily. He got into the bed and kissed Kira slowly on the cheek. "I'm O.K., don't worry." With that they fell asleep slowly, without a word.  
The next morning, they were awoken early in the morning, by Kayri. Moaning and groaning they got dressed and went down to the high-tech kitchen. The toaster popped and two pieces of bread shot out landing safely on two plates; another machine buttered the toast and another cooked two eggs.  
"So." Kira began, a piece of egg stuck in her mouth. She swallowed and began again: "So where are we going today?"  
"School of course." Kayri replied. Kira scowled, and turned back to her breakfast.  
"But, wouldn't we be bigger then the others?" Roby asked.  
"Oh no, elf children start school at fifteen."  
"Just our luck." Kira scowled again, her eager expression disappearing.  
"Where's dad?" Roby asked.  
"He's still at work. That prophecy gave 'em a lot to work with."  
"He said I would have to go to the Fountain of Youth." Donovan remembered.  
"We'll go there after we drop of the kids (it would have sounded stupid if I said elf kids)." Kayri replied.  
  
Half an hour later they were standing in front of a large white porcelain building with large oak doors and many rows of large windows. Hundreds of elf children were walking sleeplessly towards the building yawning from time to time. Once inside they were lost; they asked a teacher for directions and finally arrived in front of the headmaster's study. They knocked on the door and a calm voice answered: "Come in!" They entered slowly inside the study; their eyes fell on a numerous rows of books and a large ash desk, with various magical objects and a chair with its back to them. The chair spun around and a tall, gaunt, white haired elf met their gaze.  
"I was expecting you." The elf said.  
The two elves were lost for words. "Hello!" Roby finally said. "My name is Roby Black and this is Kira."  
"Oh, well my human last name was Power, but I'm not sure about the elvish one."  
"Good day to you!" the headmaster replied. "I am Ahmed Johnston, headmaster of this school and high warlock of the White Council, like your father, Roby."  
"Hm, I never knew that." The boy replied pondering.  
"Well, now that were all acquainted for let us carry on shall we?" the headmaster said pointing to the door.  
They both followed him out the door and through a series of numerous staircases and corridors, all aligned with different ornaments that made the entire school seem so unique and magical. They finally arrived to a doorway with two marble gargoyles on either side.  
"Password?" asked one of them, in a horse voice; at this Kira gasped and jumped back.  
"Motrin." Replied the headmaster. The door opened and they all went in; Kira was still starring at the talking marble gargoyle. Inside there was a large room with a large T.V. and rows of books in elvish and where numerous students were moving about and talking about who knows what. To the back of the room there were two marble staircases. When the headmaster entered all the students stopped and gave him their attention. "Everyone, this is Roby Black and Kira Power. I ask you to make them feel at home here just like you do." At that he left them standing in front of their peers, who greeted them with a wave of their hand and slowly returned to whatever they were doing.  
Roby wasn't feeling up to whole other year of boarding school. Couldn't they just go to school for a few hours and then come back? He looked at Kira, who looked ready for whatever these elves threw at her. He on the other hand felt that if he took one more step he would shatter into a million pieces. He had never felt shy before; mainly because his trusted manservant was backing him up all the time, or that he was more important then anyone he had laid eyes on before. But not now; now he was just the same as the other elves. No fancy vocabulary, or wardrobe, or cell phones, or bodyguards. Then it hit him; the prophecy, how could he have forgotten the prophecy? He was different and so was Kira, they both had something to do with this prophecy that was plaguing his mind and his father's mind. At this his cold nature returned to him and his blue eyes grew icy.  
"You need some help with those bags?" a young elf asked.  
This totally brought Roby back to reality. "Oh, no thanks, I got it."  
"I'm John Silver." The elf said extending his hand. They shook hands and smiled. "Your not Commander Black's son are you?"  
"Yes I am." Roby replied.  
"No way!?" the elf exclaimed.  
"I thought he didn't have a son." Said a nearby elf, with long brown hair.  
"Well, I'm his long lost son. He just found me about three days ago."  
"Sure he did." The elf replied sarcastically.  
"Lay off." John said. His green eyes began to sparkle and his large hands tightened into a fist. He was about ten centimeters taller then Roby and that's saying something. His long black hair was tied back in a pony tail and his chest was very wide, which made him look very strong, like he was in fact.  
"Who's gonna make me?" the brown haired elf asked.  
"Oh yeah, that's really good." Roby replied. His hands were starting to glow red, and his blue eyes were turning even icier then before like they did when he was getting angry.  
"Well perhaps you could do better."  
"As a matter of fact I can. Inflammo!" Roby yelled thrusting his hands forward. Two fire balls shot out and hit the brown haired elf flat in the chest. Then Roby's grin disappeared and he staggered backwards; how did he know to do that?  
"Wow!" John exclaimed. "You can use word spells?"  
Robert regained his cold expression and asked: "Is that special or something?"  
"What?! Are you kidding? Those are really powerful. Anybody can just light a stove but few can use word spells."  
"Can't you just think of the spell? That's what my dad did."  
"I'd be really impressed if you could."  
Roby looked at the elf child he had just hit; he was twitching in pain, his mouth aghast not even being able to scream. He held his left hand out and thought: Medicor. A yellow orb of light devoured the singed elf and disappeared slowly, leaving the elf standing on the spot and as good as new. John looked at him, in shock, his mouth wide open.  
"Wow!" exclaimed the brown haired elf, starring at his hand. "You really are his son."  
"Exactly." Kira said. "Now if you weren't such an idiot you would've believed him and all this could have been avoided."  
The elf backed down, looking a little scarred. "Sorry." He said, his chin touching his chest. Kira rolled her eyes in a manor that said: "Well you should be." "I'm Richard Frost." The elven boy said returning to an upright position.  
"Son, of Robert Frost?" Roby asked.  
"Who?"  
"Never mind." He said, shacking his head.  
For years, Roby was afraid of another year of school, and having to put up with the subjects he knew like the back of his hand. He would always have to stand to a fat snob that barely knew his own name, and smelled like rotten eggs, or a snob that was anorexic, which could barely lift a pencil and only had business on his mind. Having to post pone his trip to Bahamas, because his parents would make him study. His family had always expected too much from him; when he reached academic standards they wanted to make sure he maintained them. He could never talk to any of them, about anything; he had once tried to tell his aunt these boys that were annoying him and she sued them. He had to bare the loneliness of being the only sane one in the entire school and having to read his life away. In one year he had read the entire collection in he school library. He had to endure not being able to see a movie every once in a while or practicing martial arts with his quiet body guard. He was also completely cut out from the world of sports and literature for an entire year.  
But not this year. This year he was among his own people; people that understood him and liked him. People that were normal and liked normal things. This year he had friends and a family that was normal. A family he could talk to without getting anybody sued. He was respected not because of money and power, but for being an elf in this magical community. Sure he was more powerful than an average adult; sure he was the first person to be part of a prophecy for eight centuries. But that didn't matter; what mattered was that he was who he was. This year would be fun and normal; but then the thought of the prophecy hit Roby. It wasn't going to be normal, fun maybe, but the only reason he could use those spells was because of the prophecy and he knew it. And that nightmare. why was he running and from what. Could that have been a prediction of the future? Would this prophecy be the end of this marvelous civilization and not to mention his father? And what about Kira? What sick demented role does she have in all of this? The thought of his new family being in danger made him shudder. Damn it! Why him?  
"Do you guys have a tele.I mean a holo-phone some where around here?" he asked suddenly.  
His new friends looked at him. "No, school rule."  
"Damn!" he cursed under his breath. He had to tell his father about his dream ask him about the prophecy. He had two possibilities: one, run away which would be impossible not knowing the area and Donovan being out of reach and two build a holo-phone also impossible because he had no idea how to do that. "I have to talk to my dad."  
"You could ask the headmaster." John suggested.  
"Yes but he would ask why." Endios added. "And you would need a really good reason why."  
"Crap!"  
"The nearest parent visiting day is September twenty-seven." Kira said, reading a bill board.  
So he would have to wait twelve days to tell his father. That was better than nothing, but a lot can happen in twelve days. This maniac with the prophecy can do who knows what in that time; at least he would be weak from the spell. Then he wondered if all this worry was worth it; what if this nightmare was just a night mare? So many questions shot into the young elf's head and he couldn't answer one. This new life style was going to be a great challenge for the young elf and it seems that his entire civilization of organized magical beings is entirely at risk and under his control. 


	4. Chapter 4: Where's the Prophecy?

Chapter 4: Where's the Prophecy?  
  
Leon Black was driving in blue chrome car; the holo-phone was on and the face of Sayeed Rasool appeared in between the driver seat and passenger seat.  
"What's up Sayeed?" asked the commander.  
"This stupid prophecy." He responded pounding on something. "I was only able to pinpoint who it would hit. This guy is good Leon; he wanted us to know who it would hit but not who he was or what the prophecy said. Your going to have to do a little digging; Wei and Orias are on their way."  
  
The commander nodded and closed the holo-phone. And focused on the road; he pressed the acceleration pedal and the car sped through the others. A siren blared behind the blue car and the commander sighed deeply. He hated it when patrol cars stopped him; he held a badge out the open window and the siren stopped. The commander shook his head in pity of the patrol elves idiocy and continued towards the M.C.P.A headquarters. He really didn't like patrol cops; for that matter he really didn't like any other cop besides him and his crew. He finally arrived at the headquarters and went to change into his suit when he saw something going around the corner of the locker room. He drew his gun and followed, using his natural born elvish instincts to tip-toe behind it. He opened the newly installed corner-cam and looked around the corner; a tall dark figure was crouching low, on all fours sniffing the air. Then it stopped and turned around quickly and the commander fired; nothing was left on the floor but a black powder that was smoking slightly. The other agents poured into the locker room to see what was going on.  
"What happened?" whispered one.  
"Out of the way, out of the way!" General Drake was shoving the agents aside, and making his way to Leon. "What happened here Commander?"  
Leon was still starring at the powder. "Get Sayeed in here." He finally said.  
"I said report Commander! Now!" bellowed the General.  
"This thing was sneaking around so I shot it." the Commander replied coldly. "Now please call Sayeed so he analyze this powder."  
  
"Very good." The General cleared his throat in a rather embarrassed way. He went out of the room and shortly returned with Sayeed, Orias and Wei. "We need you to analyze that Rasool, on the double."  
  
"Yes sir!"  
"The rest of you return to your jobs." Yelled the General, turning to the crowd still assembled in the locker room. In the meantime, Sayeed had already scooped up a small sample and put it in a plastic bag. He signaled for them to follow in his lab, where he placed the sample in a strange machine. The results came out:  
"It's blank." Said the elf, looking blankly at the small piece of paper.  
"So it's all magic?" suggested Wei.  
"More like all prophecy." Added Orias.  
"You know what that means." Said Leon. They all nodded, knowing that they would have to search for the prophecy in the entire city. Could take days, even weeks, to find the information. They all suited up and went to a car.  
"Um, shouldn't we go a little more undercover?" suggested Wei.  
They looked at their uniforms and at the police car; both had M.C.P.A. written on them in bold print. They would get shot down as soon as they even enter the bad neighborhoods. They retuned to the locker room and changed to their normal clothes, but coated with an anti-bullet spell, only M.C.P.A. agents knew. Sayeed gave them smaller guns (except Leon's, which was compact) and sunglasses that all the functions of their helmet visor. They got into Orias' car, because it was the fastest and were off to the neighborhoods, downtown. In this area, many dwarf and goblin fights took place; there were always undercover agents working here. Normal elves and higher ranked dwarfs lived uptown where everything was peaceful. The downtown neighborhood had been where Leon and his crew had arrested most of the orc overlords. They got out next to a bar, crowded with rusting vehicles out side it. Inside there was a big fight going on, one of the normal orcs had challenged Urk-uk, one of the orc kingpins. The winner would be the new kingpin. Urk-uk was on the floor, dark-blue blood all over his body; the other orc was pounding him in the stomach. The kingpin punched the lesser orc flat in his crooked nose, launching him across the room; he gave a loud shriek and jumped on the challenger and bit his neck artery, ripping it apart. Urk-uk lifted the dead orc and shrieked; the bar started chanting: "Urk-uk, Urk-uk!" The agents walked over to the bartender; an elf with a deep scar across his left eye, which was a foggy white.  
"Wha' can I getch'ya?" he asked in a horse voice.  
"Three ales, on the rocks." That was the code.  
"Right away." Said the bartender. At this Orias got up and went into the bathroom; here he got into the third stool and knocked gently on the tenth tile from the right. The toilet seat disappeared and a deep hole took its place; the elf jumped in and slid down into a chamber full of undercover agents.  
The bartender came walking to him his scar disappeared magically and his eerie eye returned to normal. "Good to see you again, Orias. I trust you're here for the prophecy?"  
Orias nodded. "What do you have for me?" he asked eagerly.  
The barkeep shook his head. "Nothing, unfortunately. There's a big meeting tomorrow though, we should be able to obtain some information then."  
"Do you know where the prophecy came from?" he asked again.  
"We got a really week reading. You should wait until the meeting though." Said an elf mounted on a chair, in front of a complicated computer system. Orias sighed deeply; he really hated to wait.  
"Well thanks!" he said, walking away through a hidden doorway. He rejoined his friends and told them what he knew. "What should we do?" he asked Leon.  
"We wait, here over night." The elf said, looking at Wei. "You go to Leech and see what you can find."  
"Oh, no! Not Leech." He hated Leech more than he did waiting. "Can't you or Wei go? You know we hate each other."  
"Duty comes first." The commander said, the warm glow in his eye disappearing. "Put your differences aside for once."  
Orias sighed with regret and got up. He hated Leech; that crazy witch, he thought. Leech was and undercover agent, that was very deep in her work. Orias liked to enjoy life and experience every waking moment of it. Leech just couldn't; she always got so involved she forgot to live her own life. She was too. human like. Elves were hard workers, but they always listened to the wind and the voices of the leaves from time to time. But not Leech; she would get so involved in a job she would forget everything else. When her mother died she was on a case the day before the funeral; she didn't show, because she was "doing her job". Orias hated her ever since and got a knot in his throat whenever he heard her name. She was good at whatever she attempted to do, except living her life; maybe that was because she never really did attempt to live her own life. He was so upset he missed her street. She lived in an old apartment building during this job; she was supposed to be a healer for a gang of orcs. Once she was alone with them she could expose them for the crimes they did by controlling their weak minds. He knocked on an old wooden door with a lion head knob that had been handled so many times it looked like the lion had a snout. A female elf with dirty blonde hair and piercing green eyes opened the door; she looked very young and noticeably shorter than Orias. A gang of orcs followed, their long, primitive hands almost touching the ground.  
"Who're you?" an uglier one asked.  
"Drow triad." Orias answered starring the orc down. This was the usual excuse when dealing with any criminals.  
"You certainly don't look like a drow." Another replied.  
"Well perhaps you'd like a demonstration?" Orias said, his voice rising and his hands turning into fists.  
The orcs backed down looking terrified by this tall figure. "All right!" the ugly one finally brought up the courage to say. "But you better wait your turn!"  
"I don't like to wait." The elf said slowly.  
Leech was looking at him her green eyes open with anger. "That's all right gentleman." She said. She looked awkward standing between the orcs. "He'll wait." She then slammed the door and returned to tending the orc gang leader. About half an hour later the gang walked out starring menacingly at the elf. Leech was standing in the doorway her arms crossed; he got up from the step he was standing on and entered the dirty apartment.  
  
"Messy aren't you?" Orias asked.  
"Shut up!" she replied coldly, looking disgusted. "What in Namo's (elvish God of the dead) name do you want?"  
"The prophecy." He replied with the same heir of coldness. "What do you know about it?"  
She kept starring at him. "I'm not telling you anything." She said firmly.  
"If you value your job you will. Oh, wait! Don't answer that. Of course you do."  
She kept her ground but was as frightened as a raven facing a hawk. Her eyes turned to glace; she knew he was trying to open old wounds. "I told you I was just doing my job."  
"Yeah of being the best PIECE OF TRASH you could possibly be!" he yelled at her. "A barlog has a bigger heart than you!"  
She was crying hard by this time, she sunk to the ground and wept in her palms. Orias was breathing hard and starring at her, not one trace of pity could be found in his expression. "I'm sorry." She whispered slowly.  
Orias expression lightened. "What did you say?"  
"I said I'm sorry! I know I should have gone to mom's funeral." She looked at him; her eyes were big and watery. "I'm not going to make any more excuses."  
"Filthy orcs." Orias breathed out. "I don't understand how you could work with them?"  
"You know they killed."  
"Shut up!" she screamed. Orias jumped back; she was rocking from side to side, with her hands over her ears. "I'm not listening!" she yelled.  
Orias sighed. "Look sis' I'm sorry too. I know I should have been better to you. If you want to I'll leave you alone and won't talk to the General about it."  
She looked up at him; her watery eyes were turning red around the iris. She got up and hugged him, crying hysterically on his shoulder. Orias patted his sister slowly on the back. Fifteen minutes later, he had made some tea for them to drink. "Do you and your friends still call me Leech?" she asked.  
"Yeah." Orias admitted, shamefully. "I'm sorry I hated you so much before Nyssa. I won't call you Leech any more."  
She smiled. "Thanks."  
They stood the entire night talking about child hood memories and slowly fell asleep with a smile on their faces, on the ripped couch. Orias communications baton rang in his pocket. He woke up abruptly and opened it quickly and Leon sprang into life in Nyssa's filthy living room.  
"Orias where've you been?" he asked. "It's nearly one o'clock. The meeting is about to start. What did you get from Leech?"  
"Don't call her that." Orias said, offended. Nyssa laughed gently; Leon turned around and she waved at him. "Look, we don't hate each other any more. It took us this while to make up. Sorry."  
"Hurry up please. See ya'! Nice seeing you again Lee- I mean Nyssa." With that the hologram was absorbed back into the small baton.  
"About the prophecy." Nyssa began. "I really don't know anything about it. But I do know where you can get some info. You know that old abandoned mansion on 56th with Valar? I heard some of the orcs talking about something about lords, dominion, army of darkness, things like that."  
"Thanks sis'." Orias said smiling. "Good to know we're friends again." With that he left and was driving towards the bar where the big orc meeting was being held. He wondered what that old mansion would hide and if it was really the place they were looking for or a wild goose chase. He parked outside the dark bar; he went around the back and flipped open the garbage can. The putrid smell was enough to kill a wild horse; he scowled and reached inside with one hand, using the other to cover his nose. Click! Orias was able to find and press a button somewhere inside the pile of garbage (every garbage day they would switch it to some new piece of garbage); a small circular trap door opened and he jumped in. Air was rushing on his face and into his sensitive years, until he finally reached the bottom, where his crew and the other agents were waiting for the meeting to start. "What did I miss?" he whispered stepping next to his friends.  
"Meeting's just about to start." Wei informed him. "What did you find out from your sister?"  
"She's not sure, but she thinks there might be something happening at this old mansion on 56th and Valar."  
"And do you know where this is?" Leon asked, already knowing the answer.  
"Well."  
Leon shook his head and reached for his communications baton. Sayeed appeared in the room, sitting on a chair. "Hey! What can I do for you?"  
"We need directions for 56th and Valar." Leon said.  
"You forget to ask where it was again, huh?" the computer genius asked, looking at Orias, who chuckled, raising his shoulders. "Ok. Their in you car now Leon."  
"Thanks, but we need them to be in Orias' car." Leon said.  
"Oh. Ok it's done." The elf replied. "Good luck!"  
Leon closed the baton and returned to observing the meeting. This was good, he though, we're on the trail. He wanted to tell his son the good news, but remembered that his son didn't have a baton; he would have to get him one. Stupid orcs, it took them five minutes just to say hello and introduce themselves. This would take too long; they would have to investigate this mansion thing now. "Wei!" he called. Commander Wei walked over; he had some orange juice in his hand. "I need you to check out this mansion. Think you can handle it?"  
"Yup! Leave it to me." The elf replied, anxiously. He really hated the stupid meeting, anyway. He took to silver handguns, checked to see if they were set to stun and put them in his shoulder holster. "I'm taking Orias' car right?"  
Orias nodded, threw him the keys and said: "Be careful with her, though!"  
After assuring Orias he would treat his car as if it were a newborn, he was on his way. He punched in the address on the G.P.A. and in fifteen minutes he was standing outside the huge abandoned mansion. Wei pulled out a head seat from his pocket and adjusted it in his ear. "Come in Sayeed. Do you read?"  
"Loud and clear." Responded Sayeed from the Special Ops chamber. "Good luck, Wei!"  
"Thanks!" with this last conversation the elf put his hands in his pockets and went towards the eerie building. The mansion was down right creepy; it was covered in think green moss and ivy. It's once white walls were, slowly deteriorating beneath the plants and its once clear windows were covered in thick dust and many lay broken. The big front door was made of ash, with stainless steel knobs that were all but stainless. Wei turned on the night vision on his glasses and pulled out the gun from his left holster with his right hand; with the other he slowly gripped the door knob and twisted it. He pointed the gun at the nothingness in the dark house. The commander checked for any activity; checking for life forms might have been a mistake considering the creature that Leon shot. Still nothing was picked up by his sensors; he held out his free hand and thought: Ostendo (reveal). A beam of red light shot out from his hand, and a trickle of sweat trickled by his temple. There was no sign of magic either, but when the beam was pointed at the staircase a green path was revealed by the magic. Then suddenly and small sign of movement was revealed at the top of the stairs; the elf could hear small rapid footsteps. Only a rat. Still, he went slowly up the stairs, checking every corner for any type of clue. He discovered that this floor was actually circular and surrounded some other sort of room, probably. At the end opposing the staircase he discovered a door with; he checked to see if his gun was in order and his ears picked up something. He immediately shot the ceiling and pointed the beam at it; small trickles of green powder were floating down to the ground. Looked like the same type as the one in the locker room, so that meant there was a high possibility that this was the house they were looking for. "Sayeed come in." he whispered.  
"Sayeed here."  
"I think this is it. I just shot something and it left the same powder behind, as the thing in the locker room."  
"Ok good. Keep your ears up, Wei."  
"Roger."  
The commander switched to X-ray vision on his glasses, and looked through the door. There was something round, in the middle of the chamber sitting on a short pedestal, and two elves moving around it; another object was a floating pillow with a sword on it. More magically created creatures. That wasn't good he would have to find another way in. He looked to the ceiling, then back inside the room; no way in. The commander took the glasses of and concentrated hard; he could hear their breaths. Ten of them all circled around; he checked the door for magic and kicked it open, with his eyes closed. He shot five rounds at the breaths and heard something coming fast; he dodged and fired five more rounds. One bounced of something and he knew this was the elf with the prophecy. He opened his eyes to find, an elf laying on the floor and eight mounds of the magical dust around the pedestal. A tall elf with a black hooded cloak stood facing the M.C.P.A. agent; there was no use trying to shoot him. Two menacingly glowing red eyes could be seen underneath the hood. The commander walked boldly toward this elf with his gun pointed at his head; his other hand was behind his back a spell ready.  
"Welcome." Said a deep voice, from underneath the hood. "I've been expecting you."  
The commander knew this trick and played along; he opened his eyes in surprise and the figure laughed menacingly. "What do you want?"  
"Ha, ha!" see for yourself, the figure responded pointing an armored hand towards the orb. The commander gazed and pretended to strike his hair back behind his ear, but actually photographing the words inside the orb. He made sure he would remember the prophecy so he read it twice to memorize it. "I suppose you'll want to leave now."  
"If you don't mind."  
"Unfortunately for you, I do." After he finished, hundreds of dark crouching figures appeared out of the ground. Their white eyes were starring at him from all corners, their sharp fangs were dripping with blue saliva and their claws were as long as your index finger. "You see, the prophecy has given my unlimited power, which I will use to. well, you've read the prophecy. I hope your friend's son will enjoy his stay down here, while he can. Once I'm ready, none of you will." He finished his little speech and gave of a hollow laugh and disappeared.  
Loser, thought Wei to himself. He jumped to the ceiling flipped backwards and shouted: Anullo Acerbus Magus (obliterate dark magic). The creatures disintegrated, powder and all. He ran back to the car and zoomed away from the mansion. "Sayeed?" he called, his hands shacking slightly from the excitement.  
"You Ok?" asked Sayeed, sounding a little worried.  
"Yeah I'm fine and I think I got the prophecy too. This guy seems to easy, better be on high alert."  
"Good job!" Sayeed congratulated him. "Send it over."  
Wei activated a small machine next to the stereo and scanned the glasses with a green laser. "You get that?"  
"Yeah. I'm gonna send it to Leon and see what he thinks, you better get back over there too."  
"I'm on my way. Oh and send some one to pick up this guy that I shot. I put another spell on him, to make sure. See ya." The car was soon back at the bar; it was about ten o'clock now. That search took a lot longer then he expected. Wei checked for strangers and activated the trap door. Inside Leon, Orias and the other elves were still observing the meeting. Orias had dozed off on Leon's shoulder with his mouth wide open; Leon spun around to look at the new visitor and knocked Orias to the floor and woke him up abruptly. "I'm back."  
"Good job!" Leon congratulated him, patting him on the shoulder. "Sayeed sent it to us."  
Orias got up and congratulated him by punching him in the ribs.  
"So what do you make of it, Leon?" asked Wei looking serious again.  
"Not sure." Said Leon, shacking his head. "I need to look at it more closely. We've busy with the meeting."  
"Yeah." Said Orias, sarcastically. "So did you shoot anybody?"  
"Yup." Nodded Wei. "Shot some of those things that Leon saw in the locker room and I shot the guy's elf servants. I obliterated about a hundred too."  
"You use the old flip-of-the-ceiling-and-obliterate trick?"  
"Yeah, it was really fun." This was a lie for the most part. It was fun now, but when he was in the air performing that move, that was the last thing on his mind. "So what have you guys learned?"  
"Ask Leon, I fell asleep after the first five minutes of this "meeting"." Orias replied, yawning.  
"We pretty much just found out about this whole army this guy's planning on recruiting and building." Leon replied.  
"Which is?" asked Wei again, even more anxious then before.  
"Lot's of orcs, some of those black thingies, some trolls and he hopes to get some drows. Oh and he plans on making some barlogs."  
"Isn't that impossible?" Orias joined in.  
"Yup, even for him. Idiot didn't put it in his prophecy so he can't. Have to be really stupid to even try." Leon chuckled.  
Wei started laughing. "He was gonna try and make Maiar?"  
They laughed for a while at the stupidity of this "prophet" and then returned to the meeting. If you're wondering what a Maiar is you'll find out right now: the elves know that Iluvatar created the Valar and Maiar before time and showed them visions of the future. The Maiar were lesser of degree than the Valar and were meant to serve and aid them. They were then sent into the world and created Ea (The World that Is), for the Firstborn and Second born to live in. There were originally eight Valar; but because Merlock chose to be evil and rule everything and be called lord, he was separated from the Valar and he hated them deeply. The Valar would build and Merlock would destroy; the Maiar were also in the world and they were loyally to the Valar. Some were loyal to Merlock and others were corrupted by him; of these were Valaraukar or barlogs. When the elves or Firstborn were awoken in Middle-Earth, the Powers knew that Merlock would try and destroy or corrupt them. The problem was Merlock discovered that the elves had awoken before the Valar and began drawing some of them towards the darkness. It is believed that in the darkness of Utumno, stronghold of Merlock, these elves were corrupted and mutilated and turned into the race of orcs. The Valar fought and captured Merlock and cast him into the prison of Mandos, from which no one could escape. From that day on he despised the elves, for they were the reason of his downfall. Then the Valar turned to the elves and decided it was time they joined the Valar in Valinor. They were split into parties and all went well with the first two parties, but the last one was left behind, for ages. They built marvelous ports and cities along the eastern coast and lived peacefully; finally they too departed and joined their race in Valinor and lived peacefully, but their hearts were soon filled with grief and they wanted to return to Middle- Earth. (This is the part I make up; the rest is in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Silmarillion") Merlock won back the trust of his brethren and returned to Middle-Earth where he would plan his vengeance. One of the mightiest of elves was named Feanor and he knew what Merlock was planning. So the elves gathered an army and returned to Middle-Earth where they overthrew Merlock, which was now known as Morgoth. By this time the race of men was new to the world, but they too helped destroy Morgoth. The rest is history; the war for the Ring of Power and the alliance against Sauron, ect.  
Returning to the story; the meeting was finally over and the three elven commanders were ready to return to headquarters and report what they had found out. They were walking towards the car when they heard something sneaking around on the roof close to the bar. Its breath was very heavy and long; orcs. They backed up against the wall under the roof so as not to be seen. An orc head popped up and they all shot it; the pain from the three shots made the creature howl in pain and fall of the roof and into a pile of garbage.  
"Quick into the car." Whispered Leon, to his crew and they all obeyed hastily.  
Orias slammed the acceleration pedal and they zoomed out of the alley and sped up the street. After about five blocks of clear driving they met a barrage made by numerous orc vehicles. Wei and Leon shot out the window; Leon had to have it on manual, since the weapon only interacted with his helmet. He still got all of them though, to the disappointment of Wei. Orias activated an energy field installed on all M.C.P.A. personnel vehicles, only. They blasted through the barrage and were soon in front of headquarters.  
"Wandered what that was about?" asked Orias, walking swiftly into the station.  
"I don't know. I just hope we didn't blow the guys' cover back at the bar." Replied Wei, adjusting his guns in his shoulder holsters.  
"Yeah." Agreed Leon. "Let's report to Widow. I wanna' go home."  
They walked into the dimly lit station and into the office of General Drake Widow. "Congratulations team." Said Widow, getting up from behind his desk. "Rasool showed me that prophecy. You better tell your son about it, Leon."  
"Can't, he's at school."  
"I see." Said the general, scratching his chin. "Don't they have some sort of parent conference soon?"  
"Oh yeah. I remember when my parents used to go to that thing." Said Orias gazing into abyss, thinking of his childhood memories.  
"If you say so. I'll get in touch with my wife, when I get home. What should we do before this little conference?"  
"I already put everyone on high alert and we're interrogating that elf you shot earlier." The general finished pointing at Wei.  
"Glad I could be of service, general." Replied Wei, taking a bow.  
"Um, I don't mean to be rude, or anything." interrupted Orias. "But can we go home? I'm getting really tired."  
"You've certainly earned that." agreed the general. "Be extra vigilant men." He finished as they were walking to their cars.  
"Good night, guys." Said Leon. They said their good nights and were off to their homes. It took Leon about five minutes to get home, now that there was little traffic. He switched on the home security system, to be safe and climbed slowly into bed where, his wife was sleeping peacefully. He kissed her gently on the cheek and fell asleep as soon as he put his head down. Can't wait to tell Roby the good news, were his last thoughts, and he was soon sleeping peacefully next to his wife in his quiet home. 


	5. Chapter 5: The last of the Maiar

Chapter 5: The last of the Maiar  
  
Tilion was the Maiar that guided the moon. He was sent up by the Valar on the last silver leaf of Telperion, the first great tree made by Yavanna and later destroyed by Melkor. He was first sent into the sky (before the sun) to light the Noldor (a race of elves that rebelled against the Valar and left their realms to return to Middle-earth, where they would have their vengeance on Melkor) and the arrival of Men. Tilion and his light scarred the servants of Melkor and they shunned before it.  
Arien was the Maiar that guided the sun. She was sent up secondly in the fruit of the second great tree, called Laurelin. Her light was greater than that of Tilion, and forced Melkor and his servants to retreat into the depths of their dark fortress of Angband (Utumno was destroyed when Melkor was first captured). Here Morgoth, as he was known to the elves, produced great smog to hide his stronghold against the light of the sun and moon. Despite her power, Arien feared Morgoth and avoided going near his dark fortress.  
  
In the depths of his dark stronghold, the last of the Maiar was sitting upon his marble throne pondering on his tactics to take over what should have been his father's long ages ago. His father was Lord Sauron himself; Gorthaur the Cruel, as he was sometimes named. And his mother was an unknown Maiar that gave birth to him in the days when Melkor was still considered a Valar. After Melkor was destroyed by the elves and early men, he hid with his father and helped him construct the wasteland of Mordor. When Sauron was destroyed with the Ring of Power, this corrupted Maiar went into a deep hibernation under the deep valleys of the world. He awoke a millennium later, when elves were considered folklore and traveled underground to live with those he believed to be his kindred. He found much change and knew that it would be hard to conquer this race now that it was so much stronger. So he retreated, living among orcs and constructing his plan; but he knew he needed much power for this prophecy to be made, for he still didn't regain all of his. So he summoned all the orcs that were loyal to him and drained all their power and energy and storing it in a small orb. Until recently he was finally ready and he unleashed this energy and that of his great kindred that he had finally regained, to make this prophecy.  
To describe the actual appearance of this Maiar would be difficult. The main traits of his appearance are his bright, glaring red eyes that never close; his great mythril coat is embroiled with many emeralds and a great red ring, trough which a great green snake ran through, was also part of this design. The ring was in memory of his father and the snake was his own symbol. His stature is about thrice that of and average elf and from his waist hangs his sword that is two meters long and its hilt end in a sharp long dagger. His face was covered by a big black hood that glimmered eerily and his hands were covered in an iron armor that had sharp spikes where the knuckles would be. The tip of his armored foot ended also in a sharp spike and the foot armor itself was the head of an iron snake head. The rest of his body was wrapped in a large mythril coat, that shinned brightly even in the darkness of this lair.  
The dark lord got up, as an ugly orc came running to him. "The Uruk- khai lords are here, Sire." The orc said.  
The evil Maiar exhaled loudly in show of satisfaction. He walked out of the throne room and through a series of dark pathways where numerous orcs bowed down before him, though he didn't give any attention to them. He walked into a dimly lit room, a group of hooded figures awaited him standing conversing in dark whispers. The Uruk-khai had been almost whipped out after the demise of Saruman, only a few were able to survive. These hid deep into the cold mountains of the world, often to be found by some unhappy hiker. And you instantly have big foot, the abominable snow man and various such nonsense. The new dark lord summoned them to help him carry out his evil plans. This race of orc were tough and new no pain; they would fight to the very last. That is the type of servant the last Maiar needed; trolls were strong but also extremely dumb and easily seduced by pain.  
"My Lord." The apparent leader said. The rest followed his lead and bowed to the Maiar's feet.  
"Your numbers?" he asked impatiently.  
"Five thousand, my Lord." The leader responded.  
"Do they know how to use weapons?"  
"Not the ones we have seen here, my Lord." The orc admitted with regret.  
A low growl was heard from under the hood of the impatient Maiar. "They will learn fast?"  
"Or die trying."  
"Hm." The dark lord pondered. "How fast can you bring them here?"  
"As soon as possible."  
"Give me numbers!" he demanded.  
"A day."  
Another growl was let off by the Maiar. "Tell them Neregron, calls upon their haste."  
"As you please, sire." The party bowed again and turned on their heel and exited through a back door with haste.  
Neregron walked up a flight of stairs, where a great amount of heat rose. A large pit filled with red fire, was close to the staircase. The dark lord looked down into the pit to see his servants constructing weapons and various tools of war. Good, he thought, the Uruk-khai are large in their numbers. Neregron needed soldiers with brains and great strength and knowledge of war for his operation to be quick and successful. He turned on his heel and walked as fast as an average person running, to a great circular chamber with a marble floor and great fire burning in the form of the great symbol of Neregron. The dark lord held out his hands over the fire and concentrated. He then began to chant loudly, in his deep horse voice, and his words made the ground rumble.  
"Ego advoco incresco tibi. Magister consisto flamma consisto caligo, oriundus mei sanguis quod vivere denuo. Tui potentia, tibi servio mei benevolentia, dum tibi abolesco."  
"I call upon you. Master of [the] flame of darkness, come forth [from] my blood and be alive again. [To] your last power, you [will] serve my will, until you die."  
When the incantation was complete, an old wound opened on the Maiar's soldier and was cast into the fire. Everything in the circular room was completely dark, except for the fire in the form of a serpent. From the great fire, a giant clawed hand arose and griped the marble floor, leaving a great burn mark. Soon an entire body arose out of the flame, giant and with a fiery mane. In its other hand it held a giant whip that was of great fire as well. Its eyes were small, white and expressed a great amount of evil. From its fiery mane dark wings, with fiery edges sprang up. The beast roared and its dark flame erupted from the entire body of this newly born barlog.  
"Go and rest, my offspring." Commanded the dark lord. "Draw all your power. for we will have great use for it."  
The creature obeyed immediately and went into a corner were it was devoured by sphere of fire. The incantation was repeated about fifty more times; finally the Maiar was tired and went to rest, leaving behind a room full of giant fiery spheres filled with his newly created offspring. In the throne room, he found two trolls, fully armored, protecting his throne. This armor possessed a great amount of magic so it couldn't be pierced as easily as normal iron. He rested his powerful arms on the arm rest and went into a state of slumber, yet his eyes remained open and ever watchful.  
  
"Come in, Tom."  
"Tom here. Sayeed is that you?"  
"Yup. How close are you?"  
"Nine hundred and sixty-seven kilometers and closing."  
"Good, maintain course." The voice of General Drake Widow sounded in Tom's helmet.  
"Does the moon seem less silvery to, you?" asked Tom looking at the moon inquisitively.  
"Could be Tom, but that's not why were going there."  
"Right. So, how come the humans haven't found out about Tilion?"  
"Because he's a Maiar and he lives in the core of the moon." Answered Sayeed, making it sound extremely obvious.  
"That was really obvious." Tom said.  
"No kidding."  
"Prepare for touchdown." Tom warned. "And counting: five, four, three, two, one and touchdown."  
"Good job, commander." Congratulated Widow. "Proceed with the mission."  
"Gotcha ya'!" Tom spoke into his helmet. He went to the back of his ship and levitated a drill twice his size. He fixed the machine in the moon's turf out side and got inside the drill through a small hatch at the top. Inside there were various screens and buttons all around the pilot's seat. The drill began spinning, but inside the drill everything remained still; the course of the drill was controlled by two joysticks that were in the sweaty palms of Commander Tom Black. The screen in front of the pilot showed the course taken by the drill and another smaller screen was flashing, with various numbers: five hundred, six hundred. at eight hundred kilometers, the giant drill veered straight to the right and stopped twenty kilometers later. Tom got out and found himself in a large hall, brightly lit by silver light that was coming from a giant silver leaf, in the center of the great hall. On top of the leaf a tall, strong figure with a large bow was starring down at the elf.  
"Greetings, oh mighty Tilion." Tom said bowing down before the Maiar.  
  
"Why have you come here, Eldar (name given to the elves by the Valar)?" Tilion asked in a deep, but calm voice.  
"Great Tilion, we ask for your aid in this dark hour. A new dark lord rests below you and threatens to plunge the whole world into his darkness. He has also made a prophecy to make him stronger and help him carry out his deeds."  
"The Valar have foreseen this." Tilion said calmly. "This dark lord is stronger than any before him. for he has something the others did not. Knowledge! He has learned from the previous lords of darkness and uses great caution about his plans. A great army of orcs, Uruk-khai, trolls, and barlogs he has assembled and more dark creatures are still to come."  
Tom was shocked and his mouth lay aghast. "B-but the barlogs and Uruk- khai have been whipped out ages ago."  
"Some of the Uruk-khai managed to escape and are in great numbers now. They march towards this new Angband, to aid this dark lord. The barlogs are drawn from his ancient Maiar blood, and are gathering their powers for war."  
"No." Tom whispered slowly. "Please great Tilion; aid the Eldar in this dark hour." Tom pleaded, with his knees under him and his head bowed down.  
"I shall aid you with fourteen gifts." The great Maiar told the elf. "Seven, great, silver orbs; place these in your guns and they shall brake through any armor and they will never run out. I shall also give you seven full body armors that can not be pierced by any weapon."  
Tom starred at the gifts aligned around him. The silver orbs were filled with a shining mist and the armor was also shining with silver light. Tilion loved silver above all metals; that is why he begged to guide the moon. "Thank you." He finally said. Tilion nodded and waved his right hand; Tom was transported with all his belongings and gifts to the ship. "Wow." he whispered to himself.  
"Tom come in." Sayeed's voice rang in his ears.  
"Yeah?" said Tom still panting from his journey.  
"Good job, we recorded the whole thing. What do you make of it?"  
"I think we've got a serious problem on our hands."  
Sayeed sighed deeply, sounding worried indeed. "Do you think we're gonna make it out of this?"  
"Well if I know my bro' and I do, I think we're all gonna be okay in the hands of his kid." Tom answered truthfully. "By the way, how is my nephew?"  
"He's at school. Your brother's gonna go see him, in about a week." Answered General Drake.  
"I should go with him." Thought Tom. "Oops getting close. Engage heat shields."  
"Roger that." Answered Sayeed. This made Tom scowl; like his brother he hated military terms like "roger". He continued either way towards the sun, admiring the advanced technology of his shuttle.  
"Engaging sun glasses." He joked, turning the shade of his visor jet black.  
Sayeed chuckled. "So those weapons look really impressive, Tom."  
"Yup, sure do." Answered Tom, happily. "I hope you have a really nice gun made for my nephew when I get back."  
"Oh right." Sayeed remembered. "Sorry Tom, I will and I'll have some for you, your brother and his crew."  
"I'm glad, one of us remembered." Tom remarked, laughing. "Oh closing in. Engage landing gears; touchdown in five, four, three, two, one and touchdown." Finished Tom, as his shuttle's landing gear touchdown carefully on the burning surface of the sun. He then selected a special suit from a nearby rack and stepped where no man has gone before. Arien didn't need to hide her palace, because no man would even dare come near the last fruit of Laurelin. The elf quickly found her golden halls and entered slowly, to find Arien awaiting him with open arms.  
"Welcome!" she said humbly. Pointing him to a marble door, with the emblem of the two great trees on it. She made him feel a lot more welcome than Tilion. "I've been expecting you, young Eldar. You come to ask for my aid and I shall give it gladly."  
"Thank you ma' lady." Tom said, bowing his head. "All of us are wondering what will become of us. Will we all go to the halls of Mandos (hell), or shall we triumph such as in past ages?"  
"In past ages the dark lords were weaker." Arien reminded him. "But your race is stronger now and full of friends. I tell you this, young Eldar; if you will call, men will come."  
"Men, my lady?" asked Tom surprised. "Men are weak and corrupted. Even if they did help, they would surely destroy our halls right after."  
"Most of men are weak and power hungry, but there are, some that can be trusted."  
"But how will we find these noble men, my lady." Tom asked curiously.  
"They are few in numbers and live far away from all the rest. They are great warriors and pure of heart and mind. To find them you must use your heart."  
Mushy, mushy, thought Tom. "Thank you my lady."  
"You're welcome. Now I shall give you the gifts that will aid you in this war. Seven cloaks to hide you from the eyes of evil, and seven great steeds raised in my halls. They are faster then anything else; they can not be slain and are tireless. They shall come when you call for them turn into shadows when not needed."  
"Thank you, my lady." Said Tom, surrounded by the numerous gifts.  
"You are quite welcome, young Eldar. Remember my words, heed them if ever in need and good luck."  
Tom bowed and was transported magically back to his ship with all the gifts. He started his engines and zoomed back to earth, at great speed. He sighed with regret; he really wanted to go at the speed of light but was way too close to the planet. He was soon underground surrounded by a crew of elves all applauding him. He made his way back to head quarters with all the gifts and piled them in General Widow's office. Sayeed was admiring a silver bullet, holding it on the tip of his fingers.  
"So who should we give these to, general?" asked Sayeed, looking at Drake.  
The elf pondered for a short while and then finally spoke: "Definitely to Leon and his crew; one to Leon's son and we'll have ask Leon about the last two."  
"Two things." Pointed out Tom. "First of all there're three people in Leon's crew and secondly; what about me?"  
"Didn't I tell you?" Drake asked, high pathetically. "I moved you to Leon's crew."  
"That's cool." Nodded Tom. "Why?"  
"Because he's gonna need everyone he can get on his crew. And your one of the best, Tom." Said Sayeed.  
"Ah thanks, Sayeed." Said Tom, putting on a stupid face. Sayeed chuckled and shook his head. "By the by, where is my bro'?"  
"Right behind you." Sounded a voice behind Tom.  
"Bro'!" exclaimed Tom. "Where've you been?"  
"Sleeping." Answered Leon, giving off a yawn. "Stayed up last night."  
"Girls gone wild?" asked Tom, grinning.  
"Perv." Said Orias, coming behind Leon.  
"So you're with us now, huh?" asked Leon.  
"No one asked me about this." Orias announced.  
"Ah come on, you know you love me." (I really should have made this guy Asher's character)  
"You really shouldn't do that." Warned Wei Pion Yeng, coming into the office.  
"Oh hey, Wei! Don't worry; I can play with the big kids."  
"Kids maybe." Said Orias coldly.  
Tom waited for his mind to snap up something witty, but nothing came. They all started laughing, Orias included. They didn't hate each other; they just liked making fun of people and since no one else was around.  
"So what do we have here, little bro'?" asked Leon.  
"Those orb things, are some sort of magical bullets that pierce through anything and never run out. Those cloaks make you invisible, that armor can't be broken and those shadows floating around are the fastest things ever and can't be killed or get tired. They turn into horses." Added Tom, when he saw the confused expressions on his crew members' face.  
"That's cool." Said Wei.  
"Oh, we have two set of gifts left over." Sayeed remembered. "What should we do with them?"  
"Well I know a man we can give it to. And the other one."  
"We give to my sister." Interrupted Orias and Leon approved.  
"Wait a sec." Tom remembered suddenly. "Before Arien gave me these gifts she told me that there's a certain group of men we can call on if we ever need help."  
  
"Good." Said Drake, at last. "We'll ask these men to help us. Oh and Leon I'm appointing Nyssa to your team also. You'll need all the help you can get and she knows all the best places to look for clues and information and things like that."  
Leon nodded in approval. "Is she still in that apartment?"  
The general nodded. "You better take these gifts too."  
"Right. Ok team, suit up, we're going to get Nyssa."  
In the locker room the team was trying out the gifts. Orias disappeared behind a cloak and Wei was fitting one of the silver bullets into his new gun. This weapon was a double barreled shot gun; the barrels were golden chrome color and the handle was made out of ivory and enchanted to make it tougher. They all had new guns; Orias had two silver long hand guns and when he tried to split one of the silver bullets in two, it magically split and was put into the two hand guns; the barrel was not cylindrical, but rectangular (with its long sides pointing towards the left and/or right of the shooter) and curved at the top. Tom had the same type of gun as his brother only it was jet black and the dots and lines glowed blue instead of white. For Orias' sister they had made a white shot gun, with silver handle. For Leon's son Sayeed made two miniature, hand gun versions of Leon's gun, which were a silver chrome color; and last for Donovan they made two black, hand guns with long barrels, which fired multiple rounds like a machine gun. All the guns had the same options as Leon's did (Chapter 2) and were enchanted to be extremely light, but they all had the silver bullets instead of the originally designed plasma projectiles.  
"These armors are like the mythril ones, but their just silver." Observed Orias, putting on his armor. The helmets of the armor were lined with all the technology in the normal M.C.P.A. helmets, only the eye halls were just as big as the wearer's eyes, so the machinery had to be changed a little.  
"And more stylish." Joked Tom in an arrogant fashion.  
"Okay team." Said Leon, ignoring his brother. "We're gonna' split up to act faster. Orias, you'll go get your sister with Wei and Tom and I go to get Donovan. We'll all meet back here, for further instructions. Everyone get that?"  
"Got it!" they all responded.  
They all split up and went their separate ways on their enchanted horses. They were fast and bigger than any normal steed; their fiery manes were pulled back as soon as they started galloping, not to mention their driver. The elven commanders would have to get used to these new gifts and fast.  
  
Back underground, in the fortress dubbed Arganan by Neregron, the dark lord had finished resting and returned to the staircase next to the great fiery pit. He traveled a small distance until he found three orcs hammering away at what appeared to be a giant iron scale (as in lizard type). The three orcs bowed in front of the dark Maiar.  
"Is this the only one you have made?" asked Neregron, sounding angry.  
"No, no of course not my lord." Whimpered one of the servants. "We have many more."  
"How many?" asked the Maiar, impatiently.  
"Many, many more." Cried another orc.  
"Give me NUMBERS!" rang the voice of the impatient lord.  
"'A hundred." They squeaked.  
The dark lord growled, calming himself down. Farther down in the pit, distant gunshots could be heard. The evil red glare of the Maiar fell upon two orcs shooting at each other from behind two boulders. Neregron growled angrily and jumped down in the direction of the quarrel, landing safely in the midst of the battle. He held out both arms in the separate directions of the orcs and thought: Flamma Edo Edi Essum (flames devour). The weak minded creatures were devoured by two spheres of fire and destroyed, leaving nothing, not even ashes behind. All the eyes of his foolish servants were pointed in his direction.  
"BACK TO WORK!" he yelled. His voice bounced of the walls of the pit and made everyone spring back to their task. Meanwhile the dark Maiar was climbing up a set of stairs to where the three orcs and the scale. He snatched two scales and went up to the chamber with the sleeping barlogs. He held up his hand and closed into a fist, saying: "Propinquo calculus." Fifty stone perches sprang from the walls of the circular room and Neregron levitated the spheres holding his creations unto them. It was time for another incantation; he threw the scales into fire and started chanting:  
"Oriundus flamma, ego advoco incresco tibi, erus fervens terror. Tibi, posterus magister potissimum tui pius, quantum quam aliquis antequam tibi, in tui pius. Quin cum festinatio quod educo mei exercitus vicotria cum mei alius valde proles."  
"Arise [from] flame; I call upon you, lords of fiery terror. You, future masters of all your kind, greater than anyone before you, in your kind. But come now with haste and lead my army [to] victory with my other great offspring."  
Two great silvery dragons arose from the flame, as the barlogs did. They were about twice the size of the barlog, and their normal red and golden coloring was replaced by different shades of silver. These dragons were made out of iron, and were the ancestors of this new race of dragon.  
"Breed now, my children, you must construct my new race of dragons that will help our cause in this Great War that is to come." Instructed the dark lord leaving the dragons to breed his army (eww! Sorry but if I had him make the normal dragons too, it would take too long and would be way too many incantations for this chapter). The dark lord laughed loudly and maniacally, his evil joy could be seen on all the horror stricken faces of his servants. His army was nearing completion; once the dragons would breed enough offspring he would simply hasten their maturity and have a fully grown, army of dragons in record time.  
It seems that the elves are outnumbered and out powered. Can this dark Maiar be the cataclysmic end of this great, prosperous race? Could these men, of whom Arien spoke of really help this secret race? And what is this strange prophecy about anyway? It seems the elves are not ready for this, especially not young Roby Black, who seems to hold the future of his entire race upon his young shoulders. 


	6. Chapter 6: The true power of the Maiar

***A/N: I'm really, really sorry about this stupid story format I'll try and edit it or something but for now I really don't know what else to do. I can't seem to upload it right sorry!!!***  
  
Chapter 6: The true power of the Maiar  
  
Roby found himself being abruptly awoken out of one of his strange dreams about his people's history, by icy cold water being thrown on his face.  
  
"Sorry, Rob, but I didn't know how else to wake ya'." Apologized John, standing next to Roby.  
  
"Yeah, yeah." Responded the young Black, reaching for a towel. No sooner did the words leave his mouth that his gaze fell upon the empty bed of Kira. Kira was acting very strange lately; she was always avoiding Roby and his friends and making some stupid excuse for it afterwards. Should I, asked a voice in Robert's head? He was pondering whether or not to read Kira's mind or not. He had mastered the technique quite well and was always reading his teachers' mind whenever he didn't know something; not for tests just in class.  
  
"Hey!" greeted Richard stepping into the dimly lit dormitory. "Don't tell me you two haven't been to breakfast yet?"  
  
"Oh, no." awoke Roby. He quickly got dressed and went to a large futuristic cafeteria. This is how it was here; every corridor looked ancient and when you went into a classroom it was as if you were just teleported into the future. Roby thought it was extremely stupid, but everyone else thought it was completely normal. He sat with John Silver at nearby table on chairs suspended in mid air.  
  
Three hours later, the three young elves were eating apples under a large oak tree. John and Richard were studying for an upcoming test, but since Roby had already sucked out all the information he needed out of the teachers' heads, he never had to study. One time he found himself correcting his history teacher on a very complicated event. History was something; even Roby didn't need to use magic for. He knew all the history like the back of his hand. His sensitive ears picked up something whooshing towards him and he looked to his left; a great green ball of. some sort of spell was rushing towards him. The young elf's eyes turned white and the spell stopped in thin air and disappeared quietly. Once it did, Roby saw Kira tugging away at an older elf; the elf kissed her and she smiled feebly. Shock and anger sprang into the elf's head, sinking to his eyes, making hot tears of anger drip from his icy, blue eyes.  
  
"Aw. look the poor baby is cwying." The older elf taunted him.  
  
A circle was assembling around the two elves. Roby grinned and regained his cold nature, his eyes turning icy blue. "Nice little spell you had there. What was it supposed to do give a zit?"  
  
The older elf's grin disappeared. "Well, well, well. looks like we have a little potty mouth." He attempted to concentrate on a spell but Roby's abilities greatly surpassed his and the young Black cut him off:  
  
"Irmo ostendo sese morsus!" the elf yelled. Irmo was the master of dreams and visions, in the elven religion; the spell means: "Irmo show him pain". It hit the opposing elf and filled his mind with horrible visions of death, disease, torture, blood, and people being tortured savagely. This was too much for the weak, young being and it made it howl in pain and sink to its knees holding his temples. The entire crowd went completely silent; their chants of: "Fight, fight!" had died away and the only thing that could be heard were the screams of the tortured elf. Roby kept his finger pointed at the elf, with no expression on his face. Kira rushed to her new boyfriend and started crying hysterically, and begging Roby to stop. Finally Robert Black finger dropped to his side and the elf passed out, from the torture. Kira stormed over to her former friend and attempted to slap her, but her hand was caught by the ruthless elf.  
  
"You jerk, you could."  
  
"Oh?!" Roby exclaimed loudly. "I'm the jerk, huh? You could have at least told me, you BACK STABBER!"  
  
The elven girl was steaming with anger, and breathing hard and slow. At the elven boy's cold words her anger subsided and guilt was written all over her face. "I'm sorry." she attempted.  
  
"Oh!! I'm sorry." Taunted Roby, coldly. "You're not sorry.not yet anyway." His eyes turned white again and the elven girl was levitated about ten thousand meters above the ground and dropped suddenly; screaming she hurled towards the earth, faster and faster. The young Black snapped his fingers and Kira stopped just above the ground, a few blades of crass tickling her nose. She was then dropped on the floor and Roby passed away signaling his friends to follow.  
  
John and Richard rushed to Kira and attempted to help her up. She was crying harder than ever before and looked at the back of Roby's head, which was walking slowly towards the old school. His heart was broken completely and he could feel it sink to his toes. Finding refuge in a small remote corner, Roby sat down slowly sinking his face into his hands. Had he done the right thing? He couldn't stay mad at her though; the ancient light of the Valar was in her face and he had the feeling he had extinguished it. He got up started walking towards the court yard, where the whole unhappy event happened; slowly at first but his pace grew faster, as he realized just what he had done. He came face to face with the elven girl and she could see the despair and guilt on his face. Kira broke out crying again and ran into his arms, feeling his warm embrace.  
  
"I'm so sorry." She cried, on his shoulder.  
  
"I'm sorry too." He apologized, kissing her forehead. "I shouldn't have done that.it was.it."  
  
She kissed him and hugged him again. "No.I deserved that. I shouldn't have left you." She laughed slowly. "But what can I tell you? Peer pressure."  
  
They both started laughing, remembering all the stupid health videos they had watched on this stupid subject (those are really annoying). "So who was that guy?"  
  
"Some fifteen year old, that asked me out." Kira responded. "All my friends, kept telling me to go out with him, and I guess I just gave in."  
  
Regret sunk back into her face remembering the scene in the courtyard. "It's ok; I guess I haven't been the greatest boy friend in the world either." Roby admitted. "From now on, we should both promise to be a better couple."  
  
"Agreed." Said Kira, smiling. "Oh. I just realized were gonna be late for class." They ran into a futuristic class room, with many pictures and documents from history. They took their seats and listened carefully to their teacher.  
  
"Very well, class." The teacher began in his deep boring voice. "I hope you are all prepared for our test today."  
  
Most of the students sighed, but Roby remained cold and untouched. The test rose up from the students' desk and a pen was on top of it. Roby took it and started the test, flying through each question. In five minutes he had finished a twenty page test.  
  
"Excuse me." Rang a voice behind him. "But I don't think you're done."  
  
"And why's that?" Roby replied calmly.  
  
"You have just finished a twenty page test in less than five minutes."  
  
"What's your point, sir?" asked Roby, a tone of arrogance in his voice.  
  
"Because of that, I shall mark your test as it is and show you the great error of your ways." The teacher declared looking at the test. Soon after he returned the test with a great, big, red 100% written on the top. Roby smiled and returned to his seat resting his head on his arms. The four young elves walked out of the class room, sighing with stress.  
  
"Blimey!" exclaimed Richard (this guy is gonna be the guy with the strong English accent). "Could that test 'ave been any longa'?"  
  
"It wasn't all that bad." Said Kira.  
  
"Well, for you two it was probably a walk in the park." John responded.  
  
Roby knew what had happened. Kira had read his mind for all the right answers; he wasn't gonna say anything now though. Plus he was glad that his girlfriend had mastered this ability.  
  
"Conference tonight, mates." Announced Richard.  
  
"That's great; we can see your parents again." Said Kira, turning to Roby.  
  
"Yeah." He smiled. "Hope my dad comes."  
  
"Why's that, mate?"  
  
"Oh, you know, just haven't seen him in a long time, that's all." Roby lied.  
  
"Must be hard having a dad on the M.C.P.A. force." Silver said, nodding starring into space.  
  
"Why's that?" Roby asked curiously.  
  
"Well you know the M.C.P.A. has the greatest death percentage." Kira said.  
  
Roby looked at her strangely and asked: "How did you know that?"  
  
"Read it in some career brochure." Kira answered, waving her hand carelessly.  
  
"Where'd you get that?" Roby inquired again.  
  
"They give 'em out to the graduates, this year, so I read from my.friend." She replied.  
  
"Oh, I see." Roby said, nodding his head approvingly.  
  
"So what do we have now?" John asked.  
  
"Think it's dueling class." Kira replied.  
  
"Oh, Roby is not my partner." John said again, shacking his head.  
  
"I'll be your partner, baby." Kira said softly, caressing his cheek. Richard coughed attempting to stop them, but they paid no attention to him and kissed until they reached a wooden gymnasium with mat floors. "So have you been practicing?"  
  
Roby pondered a short while than asked: "Practice what? Magic?"  
  
"Duh." Kira teased. "I've been coming down here almost everyday to practice."  
  
Roby chuckled softly. "Well too bad that was the time you were ignoring me, otherwise you would have seen me everyday."  
  
Kira scowled with guilt and felt extremely small. "Sorry."  
  
"It's ok." The young elf responded calmly. They were now assembled with other students around a tall elf with a tough build.  
  
"All right, ladies!" the coach like elf bellowed in his horse voice. "Pick a partner and attempt to knock each other out."  
  
All the students got into pairs except for Richard who was forced to combat with the ridiculous coach. John paired up with a girl, who apparently had a certain relationship with him. Kira and Roby set up to the side and all their peers' eyes turned toward them, viewing closely. They bowed and held out their hands waiting for the other to make the first move. Finally Roby's icy, blue eyes turned white and the grown started to shake violently. Kira rose up about two meters above the ground and threw two fire balls at her boyfriend, who blocked them with a wave of a hand. A pillar of solid soil rose up just beneath Kira and she disappeared within it. Roby pulled out a giant sword that he had forged in the blacksmith class (the elf version of tech or shop). It was double bladed and the top was slightly curved, with giant spikes bent toward the user for inflicting worse wounds; the sword glowed an eerie black and gave you the feeling that some strange light source within it. The hilt was lined with five emeralds on the right and five diamonds on the other; the bottom of the hilt was in the form of a serpent eating another serpent with emerald eyes, which was the symbol of Barahir of old. He charged with great speed and his eyes turned red, seeing through the soil and discovering the location of Kira; he snapped his fingers and the pillar disappeared revealing the elven girl. He sliced just below her nose, just enough to scare her and then punched her hard in the stomach, putting a little electricity in the hit to ensure she was knocked out.  
  
Girl took sowing class, to learn how to sow many beautiful dresses and enchanted robes and other such objects. Kira had sown a sky-blue, cloth vest that she was wearing now; she enchanted the vest with healing properties to be cased on the wearer. She quickly got up to see the back of Roby's head who was gloating in front of the class. She concentrated on the spell: Acerbus somnus (dark sleep). But Roby had heard her breath quicken as she readied the spell and turned around at the last second blocking the spell with his sword, which had magical properties of its own (which will be revealed later).  
  
"Tela astralis cedo cessi cessum placidus somnus!" he yelled clearly. A dark cloth sprang out from the elf's hand and covered Kira putting her to sleep and disappearing right afterwards, leaving her to sleep peacefully. [The spell means: Cloth of stars grant her peaceful sleep.]  
  
This spell was initially supposed to keep her asleep for a day but the girl awoke peacefully an hour later due to her enchanted vest. She was on a soft comfortable sofa; the right side of her face was much warmer than the left, due to the fire burning brightly beside her. She felt someone kissing her forehead and got up to see Roby guarding her. She smiled and got up to stretch, and suddenly remembered the parent conference.  
  
"Oh my God did we miss it?" she panicked.  
  
"Calm down!" the elf chuckled. "We still have about two hours until the conference."  
  
She sighed with relief and went to take a shower. How would you smell after being devoured by a pillar of dirt? Roby grabbed a green apple from a nearby fruit basket and bit into it leaving a deep white mark in the fruit. Richard jumped from behind the couch and landed next to his friend holding a blue bag of a green fluid within it. He had gotten quite a beating from the coach, but was finally able to outwit him by casting a ball of light at his feet which temporarily blinded him, leaving him vulnerable to all sort of spells. Richard decided to knock him out with the same spell Kira attempted on Roby, but not before having his head almost torn of by a pillar of ice and his arm being devoured by a giant spider monster summoned by the annoying teacher.  
  
John Silver soon walked in looking extremely happy and excited. He had lipstick all around his mouth and some on his cheeks. His hair was all rustled up and his shirt was missing a few buttons close to his neck.  
  
"Have a nasty 'counter with a laundry machine?" Richard asked sarcastically.  
  
John tried to look confused, but he was a terrible liar. "W-what are you talkin' about?"  
  
They both started laughing; Roby conjured up a mirror and levitated it towards his foolish friend. He looked in it and gasped at his ruffled image. "Oh, crap!" he exclaimed darting towards the bathroom. His friends were rolling on the floor laughing holding their stomach. A girl walked in the dormitory and they recognized her as John's dueling partner. She was giggling with her friend; to a human this would have been a bundle of whispers, but to an elf it was a plain conversation.  
  
"So you went "all the way"?" her friend asked enthusiastically.  
  
"Well." the girl started. ""Not all the way"; just plain making out. He did grab my."  
  
This was too much for the two elf boys; they burst out laughing scaring the elven girls out of their minds. They couldn't believe their ears; quite peaceful John, always with his nose in the book making out with people. The girls walked away with their noses towards the ceiling. Soon after John, returned to his friends who were smiling with their faces as red as the fire, trying to hold in the laughter; letting out gags of laughter every once in a while. Kira finally returned in a white skirt up to her knees and a silk, black blouse; her dark hair was held back in a loose pony tail and was resting on her right shoulder. Roby could see the light of Aman (some old elf thing, used to describe hot people) shining in her face, and felt his deep compassion for her rising. He got up and embraced her around her slim waist and she kissed him slowly. Roby felt the ground disappearing beneath his feet and her hot, red lips on his.  
  
"Ahem." coughed John.  
  
"Oh shut up, John." Snapped Roby. "We know what, you've been up to."  
  
John mumbled something and Richard started laughing hysterically again. A great gong went off signaling the ninth hour was at hand. They walked down a series of stairs and arrived in the futuristic cafeteria were hundreds of parents were bustling about.  
  
"Johnny! Johnny, dear!" an elf woman with a high pitched voice was yelling and waving frantically at John. John scowled and went slowly toward her as if to his doom. They all laughed at him and continued through the crowd attempting to find their parents. They saw John's girl friend being embraced by her mother; her apparent brother was talking to some girl his age trying to ignore his family. Richard was suddenly caught in a head lock by an elf apparently in his twenties.  
  
"Ger' off!" Richard struggled.  
  
"Leave 'em alone." An older looking elf said. "So how's school bro'?"  
  
"Fine. You've seen my grades. How's mom?"  
  
"She's recovering." The younger looking elves said.  
  
Roby was listening with intrigue but Kira tugged at him and said: "This is none of our business." They went a little way longer and heard the door opening somewhere to their left. Six figures appeared, clad in a silvery armor that only had two yellow eye wholes. They were followed by what appeared to be an army of men; the elves started panicking.  
  
"Stay close." Whispered Roby, to Kira. "Get ready to cast a spell." Kira nodded and her hands started glowing slightly. The apparent leader of this group was scanning around; his eyes stopped on Roby and he started walking towards him. Roby's hand was on his sword hilt, which was tucked away behind him around the waistline.  
  
"Hey, Rob!" said the figure.  
  
Roby lifted his left eye brow and lowered the other, in surprise. "Who are you?" The figure pulled off his helmet and Leon Black was starring at them. "Phew, that thing is really comfy and all but my ears were getting sore of listening to Sayeed."  
  
Roby smiled and responded in a whisper. "Everyone is starring at you and your friends, dad."  
  
"Oh." Leon whispered. He turned around and looked at the crowd, speaking just as loud so everyone could hear him: "No reason to be alarmed.just, uh.talkin' to my son. You guys better go wait outside or something." He said turning to his friends.  
  
"Bring my nephew out later though." Commanded one of the figures.  
  
"I think that's a better idea. Come on, kids." Signaled Commander Black.  
  
"Oh, Mister Black?" Kira started. "Have you found anything on my parents yet?"  
  
Leon scowled and guilt was weighing down his proud brow. "Sorry, but I totally forgot with the prophecy and the."  
  
"It's ok." Kira sighed with regret. "I know you're really busy. But if you have the time."  
  
"Oh yeah of course, I'll get Sayeed on it right away."  
  
"Thank you." Kira said, softly.  
  
"So.did you guys get anything on the prophecy yet, dad?" everyone's eyes turned toward them.  
  
"I'll tell you outside." Leon said starring down an elf with a camera.  
  
As soon as they went outside one of the figures with the armor jumped in front of them and Kira yelled: "Ustilo ustulo!" Flame devoured the figure but as soon as it disappeared the figure was still there.  
  
"Sorry, Kira." Leon apologized. "This is my bone headed brother."  
  
"Yeah that runs in the family." Tom said.  
  
"You'd like to think so, wouldn't you?" Roby asked coldly.  
  
"Oh sorry, kid-o!" Tom said.  
  
"Don't call me that." The young elf said.  
  
"Well gee you so cheerful, you could be Orias' son." Tom said pointing towards Orias.  
  
"Could you stop?" Leon interrupted.  
  
"Sorry, dad." Roby said.  
  
"Oh, no I was talking to you uncle."  
  
"Oh, get on with it." Orias yelled from afar.  
  
"Right." Leon said, whistle ling loudly. A horse sprang out of nowhere; it was red with a fiery mane and larger than any horse Roby had ever seen. He reached into the horse's stomach and pulled out numerous objects. Kira whispered: "Eww.", slowly and sunk her head into Roby's shoulder.  
  
Roby repeated his eye brow motion and asked: "What's all that?"  
  
Leon signaled for him to come and he approached the pile examining it, carefully. Leon pulled out two handguns with long multiple barrels. "Sayeed made these for you. They work with this armor here; and don't worry about bullets 'cuz they never run out." He reached for baton and handed it to him. "This is a communications baton. The small screen her displays a map of you current location and all the numbers you have listed."  
  
"It works like an organizer too." Said a familiar voice. Donovan removed his helmet and looked at his former employer, kindly.  
  
"Hey, Donovan!" greeted Roby and Kira waving.  
  
"Ok so this is an invisibility cloak put it on and you won't be seen by evil eyes or be revealed by any spell." Roby rolled his eyes in a manner that said: "No duh." "Oh your mother maid you this shoulder holster." The commander handed him a black, leather holster with places for his two guns. His name was embroiled on it in golden, elven letters. A shadow zoomed about Roby and Kira. "That's your steed; you're gonna have to name it and develop some way to call it. Your mother insisted we buy you a pet so we bought you this hound."  
  
A silvery haze came next to Leon and a big white dog with golden fangs and green eyes appeared. It was as big as a horse and thrice as strong; you could see the smooth outlines of his muscles bulging out. It was breathing peacefully and starring into the eyes of his new master.  
  
"Wow cool." Roby said petting his new hound (it's not a dog it's a hound; that's how it was called in the book that's how I'm gonna call it). "I'll name 'em Kharadras. So what does he eat?"  
  
"Nothing really. It comes from an ancient race that doesn't need feeding or anything. And it rests in the form of that white haze so you don't have to worry about a thing. I found him topside, must have been left behind long ago."  
  
"Are all these things allowed?" Kira asked playing with Kharadras.  
  
"Normally no." said a calm voice behind them.  
  
"Hey, hey it's Ahmed." Wei yelled patting the head master on the back.  
  
"Hm." Pondered Orias. "That's a nice sword, kid."  
  
"Oh thanks.um, Orias." Said Roby pulling out his blade.  
  
"Oh, tot, tot (lol)." Fussed the head master. "Put that away."  
  
"Stop making such a riot, Ahmed." Said Wei, shacking his shoulders.  
  
Leon was starring around, feeling the breeze (yes underground; it was magic); Roby joined him and felt the pain in the air that, which went on for millenniums. "Orcs." He whispered slowly.  
  
"You're good." Leon congratulated patting him on the back.  
  
"Will they assail the school?" Roby asked.  
  
"Nope." Leon said reassuring him. "Their orders are to ambush us when we pass by and their too stupid not to."  
  
They walked inside and the team had to camp outside due to their large party of men. "So what's up with all the men, dad?"  
  
"Their.um.body guards are they called? Yes well, you know about Arien and Tilion, right?" Roby nodded. "Arien told us they would help us and Donovan helped us find them. The Maiar are the ones that gave us most of these gifts; the armor, the bullets, the cloaks and the horses. Let's go inside and I'll tell you."  
  
"Wait!" said Roby. "Before we go, can you tell me about this prophecy?"  
  
Leon's face looked serious now and he led his son behind a tree so none can here them.  
  
"Before I do." Leon began. "You have to understand that you're.no longer an elf."  
  
"What?!" Roby whispered in anguish.  
  
"When you and Kira were involved in this whole prophecy, Neregron the dark lord dubbed you as his equals. We know now that he was a Maiar and now you are too."  
  
Roby shook his head in disbelief, raising a hand to his sweaty fore head. So this is why they had all these powers. He sighed, and tried to look on the positive side. Well for one, this would make it easier to defeat Neregron, and he had great knowledge and power. Now he really needed to train his abilities.  
  
"Well." Leon broke into his strain of thought. "I suppose I should tell you the prophecy now."  
  
Roby nodded, approvingly. "Please do."  
  
"All right, here it is: Inter tui pius, duo consto,  
Superne potissimum.  
Quod intus sibimet, duo pius  
Edo suus sua suum  
Amplus itaque pristinus morsus.  
  
Sanguis oriundus Maiar,  
Voluntas miscere cum suus sua suum.  
Solus tantus praesentia presentia,  
Voluntas ualeo subsito colloco potentia Neregron.  
  
Among your kind, two stand firm,  
Above all.  
Because within them, two kinds  
Put forth their own  
Great and ancient pain.  
  
[The] blood of the Maiar,  
Will mix with their own,  
Only of such a size [of] power,  
Will be able to stop great, might [of] Neregron.  
  
Roby proccesed the entire thing in his brain and looked lost. He knew what it meant, but what was there to be done? He nodded at his father who returned the nod, sighing deeply and staring at the ground. Leon grabbed his son's shoulder and shook it gently in reassurance. The elf child looked up and smiled at his father hugging him peacefully.  
  
Roby grabbed his chin and remembered one particular Asian vacation: it was the time he and Donovan were training with the shaolin monks. He still had that scar on his left shoulder. "You should consider talking to the shaolin monks; they're noble and good fighters."  
  
Leon chuckled, softly. "We all know that. The shaolin are the only race of human we still communicate with. But they would never touch a gun, and their martial arts are only useful in close range combat."  
  
Roby nodded approvingly. Kharadras came up to him and licked his right ear softly. He scratched his ears playfully and all three of them started walking toward the school.  
  
"So how was your journey to the surface, dad?" Roby asked his father.  
  
"I'll tell you inside. Nyssa!" yelled Leon turning to an armored  
figure.  
  
"Sir." She responded.  
  
"Set up a guard around the perimeter and signal the others to set up camp."  
  
"Yessir!" she said turning on her heal and sprinting toward the group of men.  
  
Roby was adjusting his guns into his shoulder holsters and put two fingers in his mouth and blew. A shrill whistle came out and he called: "Anduin!" a shadow immediately appeared next to him and materialized into a giant steed with a fiery mane (yes his horse was named after the river). He patted both his enchanted "pets" if you may, and said to them: "Rest up guys, we're gonna have a lot to do soon enough." They obeyed and disappeared off somewhere. "So tell me about you adventure, dad."  
  
"Well it all began like this:  
  
***A/N: this opens up the next chapter which will come.when I get the time to write it. I know this chapter wasn't too exiting but the story wouldn't make sense otherwise. **** 


	7. Chapter 7: The Trials of Trust

***A/N: this chapter is narrated for the most part by Leon Black and sorry about last chapter, it's fixed now though. It's a pretty long chapter and it features some excitement but the next one is going to be all battle.***  
  
Chapter 7: The Trials of Trust  
  
"We started by finding Nyssa, Orias' sister and Donovan. Donovan was easy enough, we got him and introduced him to all these things and got a few gifts from your mother. He seemed to master his horse pretty well, unlike the rest of us" Leon said rubbing the back of his neck. "When we got to Nyssa's it was a little bit more challenging, though. Apparently there is some sort of rat on our side that informed Neregron we were coming. Anyway when we arrived we were ambushed from all sides without any way of retreat. If it wasn't for these armors we would have probably all been dead. When we got into the apartment everything was silent. There was a trail of blood leading to the living room and there Nyssa lay on the floor. She had lost a lot of blood, Donovan really seemed worried, but you know humans don't have healing powers. She's alright now as you can see." Leon pointed at Orias' sister who was supervising some of the humans that were setting up camp. "After that we made a few fascinating discoveries about the horses. As we were riding toward the ports. I said:  
'We better get on one of those passenger shuttles; we don't want to attract attention.'  
'I think it's a little too late for that, Leon.' Said Donovan pointing ahead. 'We're bound to attract attention in a crowd like that' Up ahead we saw a huge crowd yelling at a dwarf apparently in charge of that particular port.  
'Crap!' Orias yelled. 'There's no way we can make through that thing undetected. We have to use the police ports to get topside.' At that exact moment the horses sped up and flew up an open port tunnel. So not only could they understand us they could also fly faster than any shuttle we ever made too. They also have a great sense of direction; normally shuttles use 1000 watt tunnel lights to penetrate the tunnels' darkness but the horses just knew how the courses went. Not that they needed to, and I'll tell you why in a second.  
When we got topside we found ourselves in the Antarctic. I don't know why all those elves were dying to get here but there we were. Everything around us was white; even the sky was a menacing grey. Not a living creature in sight; just snow everywhere and more started to fall.  
'OK, Donovan, which way?' Tom asked looking around.  
'They usually move around but I'm pretty sure I know where they are.' Donovan responded.  
'Great!' Nyssa said.  
'So where are they?' Orias asked impatiently.  
Donovan pondered for a few short moments and then remembered. 'They move clockwise from country to country when each Chinese New Year starts. When I finished training ten years ago we were in Laos.'  
'Good.' I said, opening direct communication with Sayeed. 'Sayeed, I need you to find the tenth country away from Tibet going clockwise on the globe.'  
'Right, Leo.' Sayeed responded.  
'Don't call me...' I started.  
'Found it.' Sayeed cut me off. 'That's a country called Uzbekistan.'  
'Thanks a lot Sayeed.' I responded. 'You heard him guys were off to Uzbekistan.' The horses galloped across the frozen seas and to the east towards this unknown country. 'So why does this group change locations specifically on the Chinese New Year?'  
'Well our martial arts master is Chinese.' Donovan said. 'We're in for a rough time there though. We have to pass the Trials of Trust before we can talk to the master.'  
'Hey we're elves.' Wei said.  
'Yeah, we're the most trustworthy creatures in the universe.' Tom continued.  
'Literally.' Orias added.  
'So what do you have to do exactly?' Nyssa asked.  
'It's a test of strength, team work, courage and mind.' Donovan answered. 'It's a series of challenging events that rely mostly on our team work and trust for each other. Hence the name.' the icebergs and the sea flashed around us as the steeds flew towards our destination.  
'Oh yeah, by the way guys, we're gonna' need a change in wardrobe if were gonna' fit in.' Nyssa pointed out.  
'She's right.' Donovan agreed. 'We humans are really easily frightened or interested in something like aliens.'  
'But we're elves.' Wei said.  
'Yeah but in these suits we look like some alien race, to an average human.' Donovan pointed out.  
'He's right.' Orias agreed, seemingly for the first time. 'Sayeed come in.'  
'Sayeed here.'  
'Are there any magical creatures living in Uzbekistan?' Orias asked.  
'Let me check.' Sayeed responded. We could here the clickedy-click of his instruments, in our headphones. 'OK, here we go. And that's a yes. There's an M.C.P.A. port there. There are a lot of resources in the middle east.'  
'I need coordinates.' I demanded. A holographic keyboard appeared out of my suit's wrist. The way it works is that each holographic button has a different wave pattern, when pressed those patterns are disturbed and send messages to the nano-computer in my suit. The buttons form a complicated language all on their own, since there are only ten of them.  
'Coordinates: 5900 (these are made up, because they're in elvish).' Sayeed answered.  
'Thanks, Sayeed, over and out.' Soon after we arrived at our base located in the Middle East and found something completely unexpected.  
As we were dismounting our horses we heard distant gunshots, somewhere deep underground. When we entered the base, there was blood everywhere; orc and elf smeared all over the floor and walls. An elf turned a corner in a frantic sprint and got shot by a homing projectile. A distant orc chant could be heard we ran carelessly from towards the sound getting shot by every orc bullet left in their guns. We dispatched them easily, especially with those silver bullets. They left wholes the size of a fist in the stupid creatures; after a few minutes the whole room was covered in their oozing black blood. We managed to find a crate full of human clothing in some storage room. Donovan laughed his heart out when Tom wanted to wear a white dress with pink flowers.  
'That's for women.' Donovan said in between gags of laughter.  
'But it was in the human clothe box.' Tom tried to defend. By this time it was too late; we were all holding our stomachs and pointing at my foolish brother. A few minutes later we were in a large Uzbekistani city called, Samarkand (an actual city). It was extremely primitive looking with camels and all those smells."  
"Well after you lived here for a few centuries it's hard to view a human city as futuristic and advanced." Roby interrupted.  
"Yeah that's true." His father agreed, nodding his head slowly.  
"Oh, but continue your story." Roby said again.  
"Ok, where was I? Oh yeah." Leon remembered. "So once we arrived in Samarkand we started walking around aimlessly, following Donovan. After a while it got extremely exasperating. My head was spinning because of all the smells and the heat. Finally Donovan broke the silence and shocked us all:  
'So where exactly are we going?' he asked.  
'WHAT?!' Orias bellowed. 'Do you mean to say that we've been walking around here for absolutely nothing?!'  
'Well I thought that Leon was...' Donovan attempted.  
Orias groaned loudly and fell to his knees punching the ground; we were soon covered with dust aroused by Orias' anger frenzy. Nyssa coughed loudly and then gagged and collapsed on the soil. Orias stooped over her quickly; there was blood coming out of her left chest area. Orias whispered: "Medicor" and a bullet popped out of his sister's chest hitting Orias right in the forehead and knocking him unconscious. The rest of us surrounded them our weapons in our outstretched arms. Sweat role down my temples; I felt really uneasy. I had never been trapped in a human crossfire without a protection suit. A faint whooshing sound could be heard coming towards Wei. We all ducked but Donovan, being unable to hear stood up; the bullet zoomed past his left year and he opened fire out of habit. Wei pulled him to the ground quickly and Nyssa yelled: "Patrocinor" (to protect). We were now under a purple, transparent dome, stretching form the ground to just above Nyssa's (who was sitting down) head.  
All the dust cleared and two figures dressed in a formal suit could be seen; in between them stood a short, crouched figure, who appeared to be an old woman. She was of Chinese ethnicity and looked somewhere around the human age of seventy-five. Wrinkles were all over her face and she seemed very wise. The group started walking towards us slowly and cautiously.  
Wei shook Orias' unconscious body violently waking him up. As we all stood up, Nyssa's protection spell grew as well. I read Donovan's mind not wanting to give away the position of what we were doing. This was them, after all; the woman was Donovan's former sensei and mentor. He impressed me when the only thing in his mind was: "Stop reading my mind please, Leon." Donovan has a lot in him." At this Roby nodded approvingly, looking warmly at his lifelong human friend.  
"Anyway the three humans were now standing directly out side the transparent, purple dome starring at us coldly. Tom popped an eyebrow looking at the three humans in his own strange perspective. Donovan bowed and the three humans returned the greeting. We followed Donovan's lead and waited patiently for something to happen. Nyssa released the spell and the dome disappeared silently. There was no one in the streets at this time and this was very peculiar.  
'Greetings sen...' Donovan began.  
'Silence.' Snapped the woman. It was extremely strange how such small a figure had such a huge impact on Donovan. He bowed his head down in shame and backed down. 'Who are these strangers you bring to us?' she asked turning to Donovan. She had a pretty strong Chinese accent that reminded me of some sort of strange fisherman.  
'We're elves.' I responded seriously.  
'What is your business here?' the old lady kept firing at us.  
'We seek the men that are great fighters and trustworthy unlike their kind.' I responded again. The old lady backed away and pulled out a gun, aiming it at my face. It went off slowly; first a loud slow snap, then the flash and then the bullet rushing toward my face. Without any of the men noticing I rushed by and hit the old lady flat in the face, propelling her about five meters into the air. She did a back flip in mid air and landed on her feet. A silver orb zoomed past my ear and hit the old sensei in the chest knocking her unconscious. Orias' gun was still pointed in her direction; Nyssa and Wei had knocked the other two humans out and were now standing over them, guns in hands.  
'Crazy old, hag.' Tom frowned, shacking his head disapprovingly. If any human came close to our world he would be killed. 'So now what?'  
'Well, you've proven yourselves worthy and once they wake up they'll take us to their headquarters.' Donovan answered seeming pleased. Tom had already wakened up the sensei, who seemed rather shocked and surprised. She got up and bowed to me and I bowed back in response.  
'You have proven yourselves worthy, please follow me.' She said gesturing us to follow her. We were led into a building made of some type of clay, with a flat roof and wholes for windows, which were a menacing and eerie black. She led us down a series of steps deep underground. We arrived into a torch lit basement, where huge topless men were performing various martial arts techniques. They all stopped and bowed when their sensei walked in. 'These are our guests.' She said pointing to us. All the men bowed to us and we responded, bowing back. 'They seek our aid them in their elven wars. They shall now explain this matter further.' She stepped off to the side and sat cross legged among her pupils.  
It was my duty to speak so I stepped forward, all the men eyed me closely. 'Greetings. The Maiar of the sun, Arien, has dubbed you trustworthy among your race of backstabbing people. She said if the need be, we can look to you for aid and support. I can see she was correct. I look at each of you and see in your eyes the great power of your forefathers that fought among us, mixed their blood with ours and were dubbed elven-friends.' I started pacing around the large basement, eyeing my audience. 'Our newest foe is named Neregron; he is great in knowledge and power and can not be vanquished by any except two of our kind. But they need all the support they can get; no dark lord has been vanquished without the force of men. I stand here before you and ask you: will you fulfill the duty of your for fathers that have fought with us, or will you cower here on the surface and throw yourself and his merciless feet once he enslaves your kind?'  
There was a great silence in the dimly lit room. All the men were still starring at me vividly, their young faces lit by the poor firelight. They bowed their heads pondering their future: "Should we go, or should we stay?" The sensei got up again slowly and walked towards me. I stepped back toward my friends and crew and looked at them; they were all excited and awaited the humans' decisions.  
'It seems this ancient race of brave hearted warriors and friends has asked our aid.' The old lady started. 'What is the decision of the trustworthy men?'  
A small murmur sprouted slowly from their mouths and soon grew into a chant: "Trials of Trust! Trials of Trust!" The old sensei turned back to us and said:  
'My men wish to test your worthiness. We need to see indeed what our allies are like. We can not be expected to do all the work in this war against the Dark Lord Neregron.' I turned my head to my friends and saw them nodding with the corner of my left eye.  
'We accept this challenge, gracefully.' I answered. My team cracked their joints behind me in sign of readiness. I smiled at them, slyly in reassurance and we followed the old Chinese lady into a back chamber, if it can be called that. It was a cave; the walls were moist and the air humid and a little stuffy. And of course the penetrating darkness; if we took a few more steps we would be completely devoured by the darkness.  
'Let's make it happen capt'n!' Tom yelled enthusiastically.  
'Back to back, Donovan you're in the middle.' I commanded. 'Everyone else lights on!' everyone shot a beam of light out of their left hand and held their right hand ready to fire at any incoming targets. Our ears couldn't pick up anything but the occasional droplet of water splashing against the solid rock of the cave. We could hear any movement in the entire cave, but at the moment, there wasn't any. Suddenly our ears quivered as silent footsteps could be heard. Hair whooshed somewhere deep in the darkness; the soft crackle of clothes could be heard as well.  
I concentrated hard and was able to transmit orders to my team telepathically. 'Ok, they obviously have some sort of swat team in here. What we just heard was probably their leader. Wait! You smell that? Their getting closer, but their something wrong with this odor.'  
Donovan was completely lost; he couldn't hear or smell anything. I hit him in the back of the head knocking him unconscious. Wei put a tag on him so we could find him later with our revealing spells and Orias cast an invisibility spell on him so our pursuers couldn't find him. The footsteps and odors became more distinct; there were twenty of them, all wearing way too much cologne. One stood above the rest; their leader was a woman, with hair up to her shoulders and weighed about one hundred and forty pounds. The rest of the men weighed in between two hundred and fifty and two hundred and ninety pounds each. Their steps were heavy and loud (to us anyway). We all got into position and fired twenty silent shots. Nineteen groans could be heard, followed by nineteen lowed thuds, even a human could have heard.  
Their leader had eluded us; it was exactly as I expected. She wasn't human; those silent shots were just loud enough to be heard by an elf and nothing else. As she tried to sneak up on us her smell and step could be distinguished clearly as of elven kind. Her step was heavier because her family probably immigrated to the top a while ago. She reached for her handgun and as it scraped against the holster, Wei, being closest to her, heard it and rushed toward her. The sound of bone hitting skin could be heard, along with a small grunt. We now started heading back for the basement, Wei carrying the unknown elf. Her breath gave away her position though."  
"Let me guess." Roby said. "When a person is unconscious their breath is stable, but because she was still conscious her breath was uneasy."  
"That's absolutely right. She tried to punch Wei in the face as we stopped to pick up Donovan. Wei eluded the hit and kneed her in the back at the perfect point to knock her out. This time he succeeded and we continued toward the exit, carefully. A dim light could soon be seen up ahead and we reached the sensei, who was waiting for us.  
'Well done!' she congratulated us. 'I can see this girl is dear to you.' She said turning to Wei. She couldn't have been more right; Wei was eyeing her in a dreamy fashion looking at her face warmly. She was pretty cute, come to think of it; she had golden-brown hair and a very fair face. The light of her people shinned deep within her, and even though her apparent job was rough, her skin maintained a silky-smooth feeling. Don't tell your mother I said that though.  
'Oh, what?' Wei finally reacted waking up from his trance. We all chuckled at this pathetic response, turning Wei's cheeks a bright red.  
'So I guess the men trust us now?' Tom asked, recovering from the laughter.  
'No, not yet.' The old sensei answered.  
'It's called Trials' Donovan put a solid exclamation on the s. 'of Trust, for a reason. We still have two more challenges to overcome.'  
'Oh joy.' Nyssa exclaimed sarcastically. The old lady smiled and switched on a series of lights in the cave and said:  
'For your second challenge, you must recover a ruby from deep within the cave. You must rely on each other to overcome this task.' She pointed us to the entrance of the cave and we entered daringly. After a short period of time we reached a deep, dark whole in the cave floor. Donovan picked up a stone and threw it across the gapping mouth of this apparent abyss. With hundreds of whooshes, arrows sprang from the dark confounds of the whole splitting the stones into tiny pieces.  
'Ok, I think this is where the team work comes in.' Nyssa said eyeing the dark gap carefully, as if more arrows were about to shoot out.  
'Yeah definitely.' Tom agreed. 'So how are we gonna do it again?'  
'We have to rely on one person to hold a shielding spell over the gap so the others can leap across.' Orias suggested.  
'Yeah, good idea.' I agreed nodding. 'Nyssa you hold the spell until we jump across. Then Orias you'll hold the spell so Nyssa can jump over.' They both nodded, seriously; we all took deep breaths. Nyssa held out her arms and concentrated; the transparent purple shield materialized over the dark gap. Orias leaped easily across the fifteen meter gap with ease and landed silently on the opposite side. Wei and Tom followed gracefully; I levitated Donovan across the gap as well leaving only me and Nyssa behind. Hundreds of arrows kept hitting the barrier as each person leaped across; Nyssa was sweating from the strain of holding the barrier. Her field of work didn't involve performing tough spells, so she couldn't guard against powerful attacks for long. I leaped across and saw the arrows rushing towards me and bouncing off the transparent purple barrier. This was too much for Nyssa she gave in under the pressure allowing the arrows to flow towards me.  
'Leon!' everyone yelled. Orias immediately reacted and cast another spell under me. He wasn't quick enough; about fifty arrows managed to pass the barrier and twenty of them hit me head on. At first there was the great shock of getting hit so many times, than came the agonizing pain reaching deep inside your mind manipulating all the cells in your body to scream in agony. Wei levitated me to safety and healed me quickly, before the arrows could kill me. The light in front of my eyes vanished and my friend came slowly into focus; he sighed in relief, smiled and then pulled me up. Nyssa had already leaped across, so we continued on.  
'God, Donovan, did any humans ever make it out of this thing?' Tom asked.  
'Not that I can think of.' Donovan answered calmly. I was now walking ahead, my head swinging from side to side, keeping a look out for any more traps. Unfortunately the next one came from below me. As I stepped on suddenly my left foot sunk into the ground pulling the rest of my body with it. Donovan grabbed hold of me and managed to pull me out. 'Quick sand.'  
'How long does it extend?' Nyssa asked.  
'Yeah we can't just assume where it ends.' Wei added.  
'Well there's only one way to find out.' Orias said. He walked up to a stalagmite and kicked as hard as he could. The stone broke free and landed at Orias' powerful feet.  
'Oh, I follow you.' Tom nodded. He stepped one the stalagmite with his entire might, breaking it into smaller pieces. He picked up a piece and threw it about twenty meters; it sunk slowly into the false soil. Orias threw another about twenty five meters; it bounced and slid across the solid, moist floor.  
'Well I guess that's our goal.' Nyssa said sighing deeply. 'What's the plan?'  
Everyone pondered on what to do next. Wei snapped his fingers and his face brightened. 'I got it.' he exclaimed. 'We just have to levitate each other across the quicksand.'  
'Wow that was so obvious.' Tom said, surprised at our poor logic.  
'Yeah we really should have thought of that right away.' Orias agreed. Everyone starred at him wide eyed. He had just agreed with my brother, Tom on something; he soon realized what he did and responded coldly. 'Ah... don't get used to it.'  
'Ok, let's get moving, team.' I interrupted. Nyssa was the first one over, than Wei, than Tom, etc. Orias levitated me over and we continued, stepping proudly, deeper and deeper inside the mysterious cave.  
We leaped a few more puddles of quicksand and reached a wall going straight up, with a completely flat surface. We were all exhausted from this journey; we must have traveled twenty miles in the cave. Everyone sat with their back against the flat wall and held their stomach, which growled hungrily. We had to conserve energy for the return trip, which meant we couldn't use any more magic.  
Tom groaned with hunger and fatigue and than turned his head toward me; I was panting trying not to fall asleep. 'I hope they feed us when we get back.'  
'If we do get back.' Wei groaned.  
Nyssa was resting on her brother's left shoulder her eyes half open and her mouth aghast. 'We must have been traveling for at least a day.' She whispered. Orias looked at the date on his watch.  
'A day and a half.' He corrected her.  
'We have to end this now.' I said. 'Let's get going. Everyone take a drink and let's get moving.'  
'A drink!?' Tom asked. 'From where, genius? I don't see any lakes or rivers around.'  
Everybody was getting frustrated about the entire situation. 'Lick the walls.' I answered. I went and performed this deed and felt somewhat better; everyone followed and seemed ready for the last obstacle. 'This is what we do. Wei I'm gonna boost you up the whole thirty meters up and you gonna pull yourself up. We do that with everyone until you guys are all up there. I'll wait here and see if I can find a shorter route.'  
'And how do we get down?' Donovan asked. This was painstakingly obvious to all the elves.  
'We just jump.' Tom answered coldly. 'We'll catch you monkey boy, don't worry.'  
'Hey who...'  
'Alright.' I cut in wanting to carry on and leave this forsaken place. 'Donovan you first.' I clanged my fingers together, tightly and Donovan adjusted his foot into them. We both pushed with all that we had and Donovan was able to grab on to the edge and pull himself up. Orias was next he landed gracefully at the top and awaited the others; in about four minutes of struggle everyone was at the top and I was left all by myself. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the exit. It turned out if we cut through the middle leaving the trail behind we would make it out twice as fast. This path didn't have any obstacles and was about three times shorter than the other; the only problem was it was dark. I sighed with regret I didn't think of finding another path before and closed my eyes; in a few seconds I was fast asleep. I didn't dream at all and a while later, I don't know how much, Wei woke me up.  
'We got it.' Nyssa said pointing to Donovan. He held up his hand and in it could be seen a large ruby sparkling under the artificial lights.  
'I found a shorter way.' I said, almost in a whisper. I got up and staggered from side to side almost falling over. I leaned against the wall with my left hand and raised my right to my forehead. 'I'm fine, let's get going.' Everyone followed me straight ahead into the darkness. No one talked, not even Tom, we all just walked silently toward the exit; our silence was broken by the occasional splash of a droplet of water.  
Suddenly we heard hundreds of footsteps coming our way; men were coming this way heavily armed as well. We could see the exit, but it was soon shadowed by this army of humans. We split into pairs: Orias and I, Wei and Tom, and Nyssa and Donovan. 'Back to back.' I whispered. They were forming a circle around us; normally one of us could have dispatched them all but now we were all too exhausted to use magic.  
We were all silent; only our breaths could be heard. Than the human breaths became more rapid and we braced for the attack. We all kicked and punched in all directions, cracking the unlucky humans' bones with our blows. Even Donovan was doing well; elves are twenty times more resistant than humans. Finally all the breathing levels of the humans dropped to normal and we raced with whatever strength we had left to the exit.  
The old sensei and the elven women we found were meditating by the door. We all collapsed in front of them, gaping for air. 'Food...' Tom begged with a groan. They got up and showed us to a table weighed down by numerous delicacies. We stormed the table, our manners were safely locked away somewhere deep in our minds. In about ten minutes all the food was in our stomachs and we were all resting on the floor somewhere.  
We were given a large chamber with some blankets and some straw to rest on. Before we slept we had a little conversation about our adventure and the one to come. 'Just one more trial, huh?' Wei asked.  
We all nodded and put our heads down, waiting for sleep to creep up on us. 'So what's this one about, Donovan?' Orias asked calmly.  
'Well the previous tests tested our strength, mind and team work.' Donovan answered.  
'So that means this last one will test...' Tom began.  
'...our courage.' Nyssa finished.  
'Just as long as it isn't as long as the other one I'm fine with that.' I said. There was an approving murmur of: "Yeah." With that we all fell soundly asleep resting our tired bodies and minds.  
  
The next morning we awoke at about ten in the morning, feeling rejuvenated. We had a plentiful breakfast and joined the old sensei and the elven woman, which we found out, was named Laura. Wei was flirting with her the entire morning and she seemed to like him as well, because she giggled whenever he finished his little "courtship speeches", as Tom called them. She appeared to be the sensei's personal assistant.  
'So that's why I never get old.' She said, when Wei explained to her the basics about elves.  
'Well you would age if you remain here, just more slowly.' Wei told her. 'You have to come with us underground and perform the ceremony to live and look like an elf.'  
'Which one will face his demons first?' The sensei interrupted.  
'Demons?' Nyssa asked. 'You mean our fears?'  
The old lady nodded. 'That should no trouble for you, eh, Leon?' Wei asked me with a large grin. He and Laura were holding each other by the waist now; she was resting her head on his left shoulder smiling with her eyes closed.  
'Shut up, "Lover Boy"!' Tom backed me up. Wei tried not to laugh at himself but he was unsuccessful.  
The old sensei faked a cough to interrupt our vigorous argument. 'Who will be first?' she asked again. Everyone looked around at each other seriously; all eyes eventually fell on me.  
'All right.' I accepted.  
'You must remain in the cave for two hours.' Laura whispered to Wei. I overheard and walked inside cautiously. It was now dark again, and silent; even more silent than last time, not even the water seemed to be splashing. I wondered what could humans, possibly do to frighten an elf? And how did they know what we were afraid of? I kept walking around the cave aimlessly. I knew where I was of course just not what to expect.  
I looked at my watch after what seemed an eternity and found out I had already been standing in the cave for an hour. Apparently the humans think I'm afraid of the dark, I thought to myself. I gave a of a sigh, containing both anticipation and boredom. What could they be doing? This was a complete waste of time; who knew what Neregron could have been planning at that exact moment. Maybe everyone was already dead underground; I was getting frustrated. I looked at my watch again, the numbers shocking me; only two minutes had passed since I last checked. Sweat mingled with stress poured from the pores of my body. Than I realized: what if this was what the old lady meant by facing your fears. I mean I was getting very stressed and scarred what could be happening to me.  
Suddenly a shrill long scream broke the deep silence, penetrating your body and rattling the very marrow of your bones. My spine shivered violently, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I crouched low, kept me elbows tucked in and my palm wide open in front of me. Another scream broke the silence, this time closer, and even more horrible. I could now make out a faint light in the distance; it was growing fast. Soon it began to take form and...another scream beat on my eardrums. The form appeared to be a woman, no a ghost. Her detailed features could now be recognized: long black hair down to her waist, clear blue eyes, pale white skin and she was pretty tall. It was Kayri; but no, something was terribly wrong. Her neck was covered with deep red blood and a large scar could be made out.  
Common sense suddenly came back to me and I realized that couldn't possibly be your mother; just some stupid human trick. She held her arms to her neck and than held them out towards me; her hands were all bloody. Common sense left me again and I backed away my eyes and my mouth were wide open.  
'How could you...' she whispered slowly. 'How could you do this?'  
I tried to speak but I could only shape my mouth to form a feeble "No". I was angry and scarred and I threw some random spell at this figure. It exploded into a shower of light and all was silent again. I was panting hard and was dripping sweat; I fell on all fours, regaining my breath and calm slowly. I was starring at the wet floor when light flowed over my fingers; I didn't look up. It was the same strange light as with the other figure. Slowly I got up, keeping my chin and my chest together; I raised my head slowly and saw the ghostly figure of a boy standing there right in front of me. It was you...you weren't bloody, but your eyes were white and your mouth was open. Your face had no expression; I remembered my studies at the academy. This was the expression a person killed by a powerful spell wore.  
You chin started to move slowly and than you said: 'Why...'  
I clenched my teeth together trying not to loose my ground again. 'NO!' I yelled. 'You're not real!'  
'Why...'  
I covered my ears with my hands and squeezed tightly. 'NO!'  
'Why...' than your mouth materialized into a wicked smile. You gave off a deep evil laugh and said again: 'Why? Why did you leave us, Leon?' more voices now rang throughout the cave.  
'Why did you leave us, Leon?' they all said. Your figure's was the deepest; more ghostly figures were now taking form behind yours. They were Wei and Orias; Wei had five wholes in his chest and Orias was missing his limbs, the bases of his arms and legs were dripping a ghostly red blood. Than your mother and Tom took form also; Kayri looked the same as last time and Tom held his head dripping blood under his right arm. More and more familiar figures materialized behind you; the general and Nyssa and many others.  
'Why did you leave us, Leon?' their voices began to merge into one and all the figures turned black. They merged into one colossal figure that I suddenly recognized as Neregron. He laughed harshly, looking down at my whimpering figure. I stopped panting and caught my breath; I got up smiling and whipped some sweat off my forehead. I chuckled softly.  
'I don't know how in Manwe's (leader of the Valar) name you think a stupid blend of light and color can scare me?' I said loudly to the figure. 'But you will certainly not waste any more elven time here today.' I held out my right arm and closed my eyes tightly. 'Ille fio homo despero terreo Elves. Modo ABEO!' (Those made [of] humans have no hope [of] frightening Elves. Now DIE!). Hundreds of crackling sounds rang through the cave and the giant figure slowly disappeared. I checked my watch again; two hours flat. I walked calmly to the exit where everyone was waiting for me.  
'You owe me fifty, Wei.' Tom yelled. 'Knew you wouldn't be scarred.'  
I smiled and shook my head. 'Sorry if I broke your little hologram projectors.' I apologized to the old lady.  
'Yes...' she said. 'I guess we won't have time for to fix the projectors and test your friends. Luckily since your leader went first' She was now talking to all of us. 'he has also shown the courage of his men. Leaders bare the courage and knowledge of all their inferiors or they wouldn't be who they are.'  
'Thank you, Leon.' Nyssa sighed with relief.  
'Didn't think you could handle your demons, sis?' Orias asked tauntingly.  
'Shut up, Orias!' She yelled at him. 'It's not like you faced yours.'  
  
'OK!' I yelled. 'Can we please recruit these humans, now?'  
The sensei nodded and pointed us to the familiar training room. All the men were training as usual, all bear chested. 'Our visitors have proven themselves worthy indeed.' The sensei began. 'Now who shall join them?'  
All the men immediately stepped forward with their brows held high. We all smiled with satisfaction. We now had five hundred strong men willing to fight with us against Neregron. I stepped forward to say a few final words:  
'Thank you very much. You are all honorable, strong and courageous warriors. You are willing to fight, knowing there is no material reward. If you prove yourselves worthy in battle and you survive your reward will be eternal life. You can come and leave our world anytime you wish...thank you all, again.' I bowed, ending my speech. All the men bowed in response.  
We led them to the bloody stronghold we came from and equipped them all with elven armor and weapons. We trained with these weapons for about two weeks and than returned underground to the M.C.P.A. headquarters. General Widow congratulated us and we soon left to come here. We checked with Sayeed first and he gave us the following information:  
'I'm picking up a large number of orcs headed towards the main road leading to this school. We already shut off the road to civilians.'  
'What are they doing?' Tom asked examining the screen closely.  
'Looks like their surrounding the road.' Wei said.  
'Now their just waiting there.' Nyssa added.  
'It's an ambush.' Everyone realized all of a sudden. We all shook our heads and looked blankly at the screen trying to figure out what the bests tactic was.  
'Only one thing to do, then.' Came a voice from the doorway. It was Laura, all dressed in uniform. 'Widow appointed me to your little group, Leon.'  
'Congratulations.' Nyssa shook Laura's hand politely.  
'So what's your master plan?' Orias asked impatiently as always.  
'We fight.' She responded simply.  
'Hm...what about a bio-bomb (I told you ppl it had some Artemis Fowl in it)?' Sayeed asked.  
'We have to use one of your low range ones though.' Wei pointed out.  
'And we have to drop it exactly in the middle.' Orias added.  
'So I'll just launch it from here.' Sayeed turned to his computer punched in something and pressed a green button, underneath his keyboard. 'Give it...never mind.' All the red dots on the screen disappeared suddenly.  
'All right let's go, order the humans to get in some trucks, we need them in case Neregron ambushes the school.' I ordered.  
And that's pretty much it; the rest you know. We got to the school and here we are."  
"So you think they're going to attack?" Roby asked, looking at his father eagerly.  
His father shook his head. "No I think Neregron still wants to maintain an air of secrecy for the moment. You know, catch everyone off guard. If he kills us all on the road no one will know, but if he ambushes the school everyone will call the police and so on and so forth."  
Roby nodded, got up and stretched. "I'm gonna go to bed now, dad. Be careful out here, you guys." He yelled to everyone.  
"Good night, son." Leon said.  
He walked over to his group who were all sitting near a huge oak tree. "So do you really think they won't attack?" Laura asked.  
"No, they will. Towards the morning though." Leon responded scratching the back of his neck. Nyssa joined them sighing deeply. "Is the guard set up?"  
She nodded lying against the trunk of the old oak and closing her eyes. In about half an hour, everyone but the guards was sleeping on a patch of grass or tree root. In the back of their resting minds they were all preparing for the battle to come. 


	8. Chapter 8: The Siege

Chapter 8: The Siege  
  
Hundreds of orcs were assembling around the school's hard stone walls. They had orders to wait until Leon's party came out and ambush them, like a pack of wolves ambushes a wounded dear. In the small cranium of the dumb creatures, restlessness was brooding; an emotion that almost always killed them, in their terrible past. Their four hideous leaders were all on wolf-back, awaiting the right moment. They could all see guards marching on top of the walls, but somehow didn't really care. It was mere coincidence that they were hidden by the dark forest, which stood just a few meters away from the walls. A lesser orc approached the leaders and spoke his mind:  
"We've been waiting for hours!" he growled stupidly. All the other orcs groaned in disappointment. "We're tired of waiting."  
"Shut up!" snapped Kra-in, one of the leaders, closest to the rebelling inferior. "We have our orders, and you know what will happen if we disobey Neregron."  
  
All the orcs hissed at their terrible leader's name. Kra-in remembered the torture he overcame ten thousand years ago. When Morgoth took his kind and turned them into what they were now. He remembered the light and joy of the First Born (elves) had when they were brought into the world. Than the shadow overtook some of them and turned them into orcs; the hideous, mindless beings they were today. He was the last of his kind; the last that remembered the light. Kra-in starred at his right hand, which had no index finger. That finger was cut by Gilgalad himself, in the first war of the Great Ring. He growled and turned his vision away from the wounded hand. Was he going soft?  
"Kra-in, what do we do when we attack?" Urk-uk another commanding officer asked.  
"Avoid the ones in silver as best you can." Kra-in suggested. "Their armor is enchanted, kill the rest first." He knew his idle minded army stood no chance against the elves. His kind had no triumphed over the elves for millennia.  
All the leaders nodded. Strangely, horse hoofs could be heard coming down the road. A white, horse-drawn carriage was trotting down the cemented road at a moderate pace. It glowed slightly and enchanted all the orcs, striking them with awe, except Kra-in and Urk-uk. Both had seen that carriage before, in some city where they were taken as prisoners. It was the carriage of Galadriel, which was supposed to have gone down in the west with the rest of her kin. The orcs' idle mind now began to work again; one rushed towards the carriage growling loudly. Urk-uk shot him in the back of the head and he fell with a thud to the ground. The orcs screeched in disapproval and starred stupidly at the dead body of their comrade.  
"Idiots!" Kra-in bellowed. "That was more than enough for elven ears. They can outlast us in that fortress anyway."  
"We must attack." Vrans (yet another leader) said firmly drawing his long gun.  
"NO!" Arakan (the last leader) yelled. "Wait for them to open the gate."  
They all looked at Kra-in for approval, who nodded. Another battle another chance to die. He was getting sick of it. His memories were coming much too alive now; he pondered and pondered but it just couldn't get through. Why was he remembering all these things now? Was he going to die today?  
Urk-uk sniffed the air five times and than turned to Kra-in with a smile. "Do you smell that?"  
Kra-in sniffed the air like Urk-uk and finally responded: "That's human blood. But the human's haven't interacted with elves since..."  
"Exactly." Said Urk-uk excitedly. "They've been rallied to this cause, but they have never seen orcs before."  
  
Kra-in gave a low snicker. Human's had always been afraid of orcs, unlike the elves. Now the odds were tipping in their favor. "Perfect."  
The sound of horse hoofs stopped. And interrupted the sadistic conversation of the two orc leaders. One of the guards and someone in the carriage conversed for a few moments. The voice inside the carriage could be heard clearly even by the orcs. It was Galadriel alright. One of the guards left for about five minutes. With a loud creaking noise the gate slowly began to open...  
  
Roby held Kira on his lap starring out the window, where about five human tents were pitched up. She had slowly dozed off on his shoulder, with a smile on her face. Roby did not bare the same expression, he knew that the orcs would attack soon, but what worried him more was a new much more powerful force slowly making its way down towards the school. Kharadras was resting his head on his master's foot his big warm eyes starring at the worried frown on Roby's face. Jon and Richard were dozing off in two arm chairs nearby. Jon had a dirty smile on his face. Roby smiled looking at him, and than kissing Kira gently on the head. She moved slightly but did not wake up.  
"What do you think it is?" Roby asked looking at his hound. Kharadras gave off a loud deep bark. The three sleeping elves awoke with a bit of a startle. Roby smiled. Kira groaned and stretched.  
She suddenly stopped and frowned deeply, as if concentrating. "Do you feel that?" she asked turning her head upwards to face Roby.  
"Yeah." Roby replied turning serious again. "Do you think it's elven or..."  
"I don't know what it is." Kira cut him off. "Whatever it is it's coming closer."  
"Hmm..." Roby pondered starring out the window.  
Jon and Richard were looking each other in the eye very seriously; they both nodded and turned to Roby and Kira. Jon spoke first:  
"We wanna' help." He said firmly. Roby turned his head slowly and looked at him, cocking an eyebrow.  
"Don't be stupid." He replied coldly. There was a moment of silence; Jon bowed his head looking as if he had just lost the most important thing in the world. Richard finally gathered enough forest to speak:  
"And why not?" He snapped.  
"You guys can't even hold a gun." Kira said. "I don't know that well either, Roby was teaching me before we...separated."  
"Besides, she has Maiar blood, you don't." Roby added. "And she's right you can't hold a gun."  
"That's what you think." We've been practicing ever since we met Roby and found out about his abilities.  
"No." Roby said in a "this-conversation-is-over" sort of way. "I can't be responsible for your deaths."  
"Well, what 'bout 'em bloody armors." Richard said, pointing at the silver armor on one of the armchairs.  
Roby sighed deeply; Richard had him there. "Alright I'll try it for you three, but you're gonna have to get guns from my dad."  
The two young elves nodded excitedly. Roby held out his hand, but did not get up. "Tria." He said calmly. The armor glowed and than a flash filled the room. Four armors were now resting one on top of the other. Jon and Richard rushed over to the chair and started putting on the armor. A task that proved more challenging than they thought.  
"It's a little stiff before you get into it." Roby warned them.  
"No kidding, mate." Richard groaned. Jon finally got into his and fastened on the helmet. The two yellow eye wholes flashed with millions of numbers and than finally stopped; the right screen turned into a three dimensional, transparent map of the school and the left showed all of Jon's body statistics. There were many red dots in one of the forests. "Do the red dots stand for orcs?"  
"Yup." Roby said.  
"Than I think we 'ave a problem." Richard finished.  
"Go get guns." Roby said, deliberately ignoring his friend. Kira waved her hand and the armor, and magically fitted into her armor. She tied up her hair behind her back, as best she could and put on her helmet. The young Maiar than followed her friends out of the dormitory.  
The great power was now just outside the school's perimeter. Roby quickly put on his armor like Kira. He waited for the screens to load and than tried to reach his dad. There was no response; Leon must have his helmet off. The helmet didn't generate sound in case it accidentally gave away the unit's position. Turning on the communications menu he fastened his gun into the holster and slowly walked out the door, towards the main yard. His mind was blank, as he walked throughout the many twisting corridors of the school. He would finally get a taste of how his enemy acted. His ultra sensitive ears picked up on a conversation. One of the voices was his father's and the other...but how could it be?  
  
Atop the giant stone wall of the school two guards stood as still as corpses knowing that the dangers around them would soon be unleashed. This world was so much unlike their own. Creatures that bore no sine of aging on their skin look at them with a knowledge and wisdom beyond any ever imagined by human minds. The weapons weren't too much of a burden; the armor was also very light and useful. The elven race was so much more advanced, it seemed impossible for them to be quarreling. Why should they? Over what? Many such questions raced through the troubled minds of the humans. They had all joined these courses to become elite body guards just like their father's before them. None thought they would have to face such a test; especially one that almost promised to take their lives. Leon Black, the elven commander had briefed them on the enemy. Slowly some of the questions were beginning to be answered. It wasn't the elves that were quarreling; it was the orcs and this dark lord that were trying to toss this pleasant, futuristic world into chaos and darkness. The elves were merely protecting it. The humans would do the same if their world was in peril.  
Everything lay perfectly still. The two anonymous guards slowly paced along the top of the hard metal gate. The guns given to them by the elves stood under their hands, in a hard grip. A distant and almost silent hiss could be heard from the nearby forest. Both guards crouched and aimed toward the bundle of dark trees.  
"What do you suppose that was, Dave?" one whispered to the other. The one called Dave turned his head a little, keeping one eye the forest.  
"I don't know Shamus." Dave responded. "Go warn everyone to be on high alert."  
Though he had an Irish name and background, Shamus didn't really have a strong accent. He joined the courses to protect others. When he was thirteen he and his little seven year old sister were walking in the park at night. They were jumped by a group of men who tried to mug them. Shamus was able to escape but when his sister tried to she got killed by one of the men. The memories still plagued him, in his worst nightmares. He hoped to become well acquainted with firearms and martial arts.  
Shamus raced along the stone wall warning each and every guard to be on high alert. He wondered what this enemy would look like in reality. His imagination had concocted some sort of idea, but he was still curious. They would probably look something like a little which with big noses and small mean eyes; he thought to himself. His guess wasn't too far off. After jogging around the perimeter of the entire school he finally returned to Dave's side.  
"All done." Shamus said, panting slightly. Dave was still crouched behind the gate, his rifle pointed at the forest. "What do you think these things look like?"  
"It's curiosity like that, that's gonna get us killed, Shamus." Dave snapped. He was almost finished with his training. In a few months he would be a fully certified body guard. Shamus scowled, pulled out his rifle and crouched behind the wall. Dave was a pretty big kill joy. He wasn't like that when his family was alive, but his family wasn't alive anymore. It was all because he couldn't protect them. It was all his fault. But now no one would have to die on his account except perhaps those that have done wrong. He wanted to join the F.B.I. after he finished training.  
A small light could be seen coming down the neatly paved road. The tall trees seemed to have no affect on this object. Its light seemed to glow for miles, and illuminate everything. It struck the two humans with awe. They starred at it with their jaws dropped. Dave recovered from the trance, and crouched quickly behind the wall. He pulled Shamus down after him.  
"You idiot, it might be some sort of the enemy weapon." Dave criticized. He said a few more things that Shamus just blocked out of his head. He was really sick of this old kill joy. He slowly raised his weapon slowly to his right shoulder; anger was rushing through his temples clouding his mind. Shamus recovered and concentrated on the light that was coming closer and closer. What could it be? He got ready to fire; his hands squeezed the weapon tighter and tighter.  
Finally the object came into view. It was a horse drawn carriage. As the primitive vehicle turned the bend a loud shriek was heard from the dark forest, and a gunshot followed it almost immediately. By this time the enchanted carriage had reached the gates; the driver starred at the two humans without saying a word.  
"Who goes there?" asked Dave.  
"Galadriel, Queen of Lotholrien." Answered a voice from within. "I wish to speak to Leon Black."  
"We have to check our orders." Dave replied. "Shamus go get Leon, quick!"  
"Yeah, yeah." Shamus said slowly. He jumped down off the wall and ran to the great oak where Leon and the rest of the elves were sleeping. "Leon, sir." Shamus said slightly louder than normal. Leon arose slowly looking sheepishly at the human. As the elf rose to his feet he spoke:  
"What is it?"  
"There is a carriage at the gate." Shamus began. "Of Galadriel, Queen of Lotholrien, I believe she said."  
Leon's eyes opened wide. His ears could not believe it; how was it possible. "Open the gate quickly."  
  
"One more thing, sir." Shamus said. "We heard a strange shriek and gunfire in the woods."  
"Wake everyone up and tell them to be ready. They'll attack when the gates open." Leon said. The human nodded and went around waking everyone up from their peaceful slumber. Leon walked quickly to the gate climbing the ladder as fast as he could to reach the top. "My apologies for wasting your time ma'lady."  
"Are you Leon Black?" the voice from the carriage asked.  
"Yes ma'lady, we shall open the gates immediately." Leon said. He looked over his shoulder, everyone was awake and armed; he nodded at the human by the lever that opened the gate. The lever was an old fashioned hand powered one; the man toiled with it putting all his strength into it. As the old gate was slowly creaking open, Leon whispered to Dave: "Get the carriage to safety as soon as it gets in here."  
"Yessir." Dave replied firmly. He jumped from the precipice behind the gate and signaled the driver to follow him.  
Four voices now rang from the forest, screaming at the top of their lungs: "ATTACK!"  
The ground seemed to shake under the many feet of the attacking force. Leon quickly waved his hand at the stubborn lever and the gates closed in the blink of an eye. The human that was previously controlling the lever was thrown on his back by Leon's power. Leon aimed his gun at one of the warg riders and fired a few rounds; the creature nearly evaded the attack and growled at the elf. This was Urk-uk's warg, and one of the best there was. Urk-uk opened fire on the guards on the gate, avoiding Leon, as Kra-in ordered. He managed to hit one of the guards the other opened fire on him before he got the chance to shoot.  
The orcs were firing stupidly on the gate; their shots didn't even leave marks on the strong foundation. But it appeared to be more than just the foundation; a strong spell protected the wall from any enemy attacks. As soon as he noticed this, Leon starred over his shoulder to see a most terrible sight. Lady Galadriel had a huge silvery-blue aura around her and her hands held up in front of her. The waves of energy she emitted blurred her image.  
Orias, Wei, and the rest of the elves joined Leon on top of the gate. "Hey snap out of it!" Wei yelled at him. Leon shook his head and returned to shooting down the attacking hoards of orcs. Two small figures appeared the elven commander holding guns almost as big as them. They fired at the orc, hitting all of their targets. Leon frowned, when he noticed that they were wearing silver armors. Must be Roby and Kira, he thought and returned to killing off the orcs. Orias, Wei, Nyssa, Tom were fierce in battle; hundreds of orcs were skewed by their blazing silver projectiles. Even Laura hit all of her targets with much ease. Many of the stupid creatures attempted to shoot them, but all their bullets broke against the shining, enchanted, Maiar armor like water against rock.  
  
Tom held out his hand and yelled: "Fatum iaculum [Doomed javelin]" it landed in amidst a group of demented looking orcs devouring them in a black- blue flame.  
Kra-in was shooting fiercely at the humans killing most of them. Despite his and the other leaders' efforts most of the foot soldiers were getting swatted down like flies by the human and elf army. Dave shot at Kra- in but, he wasn't good enough for the experienced orc. Kra-in easily evaded his attack, guiding his great warg through the hail of bullets that was killing all his troops. Arakan was shooting the guards as well and went to Kra-in's side, as if waiting for some sort of order. His right arm had been shot off by one of the silver bullets of the great elves. The socket where his arm was supposed to be was gushing out a cold blue blood. He knew there was no point in fighting, but if they returned to Neregron empty handed they would suffer a fate worse than death.  
"Give me a hand with this one." Kra-in ordered in his horse voice. The orc leaders both shot at the poor human penetrating his elven armor and killing him in an instant. Leon turned to the fallen human, but it was too late; Dave had died before he hit the ground. Kra-in grinned and turned on Shamus; this human was smarter and ducked behind the wall, rather than relying on his foolish pride. When the fire ceased he quickly rose, but was shot in the left side of his chest. One of the female elves stooped over him; all the sounds around him were now either silent of muffled. He felt a surge of energy rush through his body and everything was well again.  
"He's alright." Nyssa said. "Be careful will ya'."  
Shamus nodded and attempted to put a hand to his forehead, but his helmet was in the way. He crawled away from his previous spot, a strategy was tacking root in his head. He would have to sneak away from the attackers and shoot them from the side. Shamus rose to his knees, took aim carefully and fired. He hit Arakan right in the head; he ment to hit the one closer to him, but it didn't really matter.  
A bullet whooshed over Kra-in's head hitting Arakan just below his right ear. His comrade fell limply to the ground. Again, just like Borak. Kra-in shook his head and groaned; who the hell was Borak anyway? He had to control his memories better. Steering his warg away from Arakan's corpse he returned to shooting out the humans on the wall. But more and more seemed to take their place. Suddenly a great white hound jumped over the great castle wall and started maiming hundreds of orcs. Kharadras turned his sights on Vrans and his great brown warg. His golden claws cut deeply into the warg, killing it quickly, and his golden teeth tore the orc leader in half. The hound sliced through Kra-in's warg, knocking him face first into the dirt.  
Kra-in slowly rose but his eyes didn't meet a pretty sight. He starred around him, gazing upon the masses of his fallen troops. They were all drenched in a blue pool of their own miserable blood.  
"Retreat!" he yelled. Urk-uk and about one hundred other orcs ran back shooting over their shoulder. Cheers could be heard from the school behind them. A figure appeared in front of them, clad in the silver armor they were told to avoid. He wasn't quite as tall as a fully grown elf but he was close. They desperately fired at him, but their entire mass of bullets ricochet off his shining armor.  
"It's Roby." Jon and Richard said in one voice. Leon starred at them; his pupils shrunk in fear as his eyes shot wide open. He couldn't remember that nothing could penetrate the silver armor; not that he could do anything. Nervousness had totally numbed his entire body.  
Roby held out his hand and spoke in a deep dark voice to the orcs. "Give this to your master." With that he yelled out his spell: "Calamus grano. [Arrow hailstorm]" Hundreds of long, golden arrows flew out of his hand piercing through the stupid creatures. All of them fell down to the ground as soon as they were struck, except the one closest to him. Kra-in staggered raised his gun and fired one last shot. Than his eyes turned red and he started laughing, despite the blood that was gushing out of his stomach. His laugh was so sinister it made every piece of your body shake in fear. Roby however was as still as night.  
"So you're the child, are you?" The possessed orc said, in a deep voice, dreadful like his laugh.  
"Yes, I am." The young Maiar said calmly. "Are you the filth they call Neregron?"  
Neregron chuckled and shook his head closing his eyes, hiding the two dreadful fireballs that pierced the night. "Brave my boy but foolish. I can not attempt to destroy you in this body, but I assure..."  
"Shut up!" Roby cut him off. "You think you're so high and mighty." Roby took of his helmet and spit on the ground. "That's what I think of you."  
Neregron's evil grin disappeared and his possessed orc growled. "Oblivio!" it yelled throwing out its bruised hand. A black cloak rushed toward Roby getting bigger as it traveled farther and farther.  
"Voluptuosus crepusculum [delightful twilight]!" a dark ball hit the eerie cloak dispersing it into a million horizons and than exploded right in Neregron's face. In his dark fortress the dark lord was flung backward and blinded by the attack. He growled loudly and pummeled the marble floor with his huge fists.  
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS." Neregron yelled raising his fists up into the air; his voice made his entire stronghold tremble in its foundation. "No one takes my sight." He said in a voice near a whisper. His eyes were still smocking from the spell. His fiery eyes now fell out of their sockets as highly burnt pieces of charcoal.  
Back at the Elven School, Roby staggered and fell forward, just managing to keep balance by slamming his right knee into the ground; his left knee stood bent underneath him. Everyone was still temporarily blinded by the attack; the only thing that remained of Kra-in was a pile of ash in the road. Roby rested his head on his right knee, breathing heavily; his chest rose and contracted slower and slower, until the young Maiar finally regained his strength. He rose to his feet and slowly walked back towards the school.  
"Hoorah!" Shamus yelled at the top of his lungs. Slowly more and more humans joined in the chant, pretty soon the entire school yard was chanting in Roby's honor. He waved at them and than jumped over the gate. His father hugged him; some of the humans went aw.  
"Good job, son." Leon said, squeezing him tighter.  
"Yeah, way to go kid!" Tom said patting him on the shoulder.  
"That was some spell, Roby." Orias added admiring his abilities.  
"Oh and Kira, good idea with those decoys." Wei finally spoke, turning to Kira. "I think it really helped these humans.  
"Thanks Wei." Kira said, smiling under her armor.  
After many other compliments from the elves, a voice from somewhere farther away spoke out. "Indeed." Lady Galadriel was walking towards them. They all bowed. "You don't need to do that. Please rise." All the elves rose to their feet looking anxiously at the legendary elven queen.  
"To what do we owe the honor, ma'lady?" Orias asked politely.  
Before the elven queen spoke Laura cut her off, not realizing the importance of this proud figure. "I think I read about you in some history book, you were queen of Lotholrien?"  
Galadriel nodded, ignoring the rudeness of the young elf. "Now to answer your question Orias." Orias was taken aback that the legendary queen knew his name. "I was sent here from Valinor by the Valar to train our two young friends over here." She said smiling pointing at Roby and Kira.  
Roby cocked an eyebrow and Kira went: "OO." This was an honor not even Roby's mind couldn't realize. What could the ancient Lady Galadriel teach the two young Maiar? 


End file.
